Lewis Hamilton believes the wet conditions in the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix only "magnified" the problems Mercedes have faced with their 2022 car. Starting third at Marina Bay, Hamilton was out-muscled by Carlos Sainz at the start and fell to fourth. He was stuck behind the Ferrari thereafter, about one to two seconds behind, but unable to pass until his Lap 33 crash at Turn 7 after going straight on in the braking zone. After a long pit-stop, Hamilton emerged behind Sebastian Vettel, yet could not overtake his fellow World Champion, with a late mistake allowing Max Verstappen through. Hamilton would finish ninth on a weekend in which he had felt positive about the performance of the troublesome W13 before it was affected by rain.
Rain "magnified" problems
"I'm not going to punish myself for one mistake, I think it was very tricky conditions for everyone," Hamilton explained to media, including RacingNews365.com. "I think our car, whatever the problems that we have with it, it's magnified in the rain. It's a very, very hard car to drive in the rain. "The car had its moments this weekend for sure where it was not too bad. "It's been hit and miss with this car, but I think there [were] positives to take from weekend. It's just a shame not to get many points for the team."
Hamilton reveals tyre choice
An early radio message broadcast stated that Hamilton said the team should have listened to him on tyres. He revealed that he had wanted to start on a scrubbed set of Intermediates, but instead the Silver Arrows started him on a fresh set. Given the problem of the Mercedes in firing up its tyres in 2022, Hamilton felt the new tyres were "terrible." "It took several laps for temperatures to come up and we can't fire our tyres up as quick as the others for some reason, on wet and dries, and we don't really understand why," the Briton explained.
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