How Russell and Mercedes can snooker Ferrari in Singapore

George Russell and Lewis Hamilton will head into the Singapore Grand Prix with a useful trick up their sleeves which could snooker Ferrari.

The team has managed to navigate the weekend and saved both drivers an extra set of the Medium tyres, meaning both have two sets in the bank compared to one for every other driver, except the Williams duo.

Historically, there is a 100% chance of a Safety Car at Marina Bay owing to the tough conditions drivers and machines face.

Pirelli's ideal race strategy is for a one-stop, starting on the Mediums before switching to Hards around Laps 20-30 to run to the flag, planned for the end of Lap 62.

Alternatively, starting on the Softs and pitting for Hards between Laps 15-25 is possible but none of the front-runners have any new red-marked tyres available.

The two-stop Soft-Hard-Soft pitting around Lap 13-18 and Lap 40-46 is not expected to be favoured.

Owing to the long pit-lane and short speed limit of 60kph, drivers want to speed as little time as possible in the pits - trending towards a one-stop.

However, if there is a Safety Car mid-way through the second stint on Hard tyres, those fresh set of Mediums could make Russell and Hamilton a threat, with the W14 looking reasonable on race pace - on which it has tended to have the beating of Ferrari's SF-23 this season.