Lewis Hamilton names Singapore desire key to ending long Ferrari drought

Lewis Hamilton has expressed his desire for rain to play a part in this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix.

Despite its proximity to the equator and tendency for thunderstorms, the Marina Bay race has only been impacted twice by rain, in 2017 and 2022, but the forecast for this weekend's race indicates a third race could be subject to the conditions. 

Hamilton won the 2017 race, made famous for Kimi Raikkonen, Max Verstappen, Fernando Alonso, and Sebastian Vettel all being eliminated in first-lap collisions. 

The Ferrari driver has seven podiums in Singapore, including four wins, but is still awaiting his first grand prix rostrum visit for his new team, as he detailed how qualifying and rain could make this weekend's race "a little bit interesting."

"I mean, there are going to be races where if we qualify much better, we're going to be in a much better position to race," Hamilton told media, including RacingNews365.

"I would give anything for an upgrade, but obviously, we don't have that as the focus is on next year's car, so we just have to do better in optimising and with execution. 

[Singapore] is not one of the most exciting races, so qualifying is going to be everything, and then I hope it rains or something like that, so it at least makes it a little bit interesting."

When then also asked about ending his podium drought with the Scuderia, Hamilton simply replied that: "It'd be nice, but it is not really going to change much for me."