Mercedes were given ‘early clues’ of Singapore pace – Allison

Mercedes technical director James Allison says the team’s improved Singapore Grand Prix pace first revealed itself in the final sector of the Hungaroring earlier this year which gave the team added confidence at one of its toughest circuits.

Despite claiming victory in four of the past five years in Singapore, Mercedes has often been exposed to its rivals at the Marina Bay Street Circuit with aerodynamic and tyre management proving to be vital compared to engine strengths at the twisty track with the race held in hot and humid conditions.

Allison says improving its weaknesses on slower tracks had been a key focus for its 2018 F1 car which he feels came to fruition thanks to victories for Lewis Hamilton in Hungary and Singapore with its pace breakthrough being unveiled at the Hungaroring’s final sector in July.

Hamilton secured a dominant pole position in Hungary, with qualifying held in mixed weather conditions, before fending off the charge from Ferrari and Red Bull to secure victory.

“One of the earliest clues was at the last sector of Budapest we were strong, last year we were dreadful around that last sector,” Allison said. “We’ve just been chipping away at it over the last 12 months but with a massive amount of effort because it’s quite a big thing you have to change in order to do it.

“It’s just a real delight now. Lewis got the job done but we gave him a car that he could do that with hand that’s a huge source of pride to all of us.

“We have put right the weaknesses that have plagued us at this circuit for a number of seasons and validated a lot of the theories and analysis of why we have suffered previously.”

But Allison has also warned Mercedes it cannot relax for the upcoming races after winning at the final low speed circuit given Ferrari’s power advantage demonstrated during Sebastian Vettel's charge to victory at the Belgian Grand Prix.

“This sport can beat you up, like happened recently to us in Spa,” he said. “This feeling will last for about 10 more minutes before we begin fretting about Sochi because our competition is desperately strong and the remaining races cover a very wide range of challenges.”

Mercedes extended its F1 world constructors’ championship lead on Ferrari to 37 points while Hamilton pushed his advantage over Vettel in the F1 drivers’ standings to 40 points.