Mercedes reveal reason behind end to painful run

Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin has explained why the team finally overcame its aversion to the heat and humidity of Singapore, which had long proved to be a major stumbling block.

After crashing in second practice and seemingly struggling to extract performance from the W16, George Russell came alive in the second qualifying session, going on to land pole position from which he was never challenged en route to his fifth grand prix win.

Team-mate Kimi Antonelli also managed to find pace and, arguably, should have been on the front with Russell, but had to settle for fourth on the grid and fifth at the chequered flag.

Nevertheless, it was Mercedes' best overall performance at the Marina Bay Street Circuit since Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas finished first and fourth in 2018. Generally, the team's cars have consistently struggled in the conditions.

Even Russell and team principal Toto Wolff were left bemused after the event as to why the car suddenly started to perform.

Shovlin, however, has simply stated the result was a culmination of the team "doing a lot of work on looking after the rear tyres, particularly at those tracks where they get a very punishing time".

He added: "The air is very hot in Singapore. There's also an awful lot of traction. Looking at last year, we did struggle in the race [Hamilton and Russell finishing fourth and sixth respectively].

"It is nice to see the benefit of some of that work that's been going on at the factory over the course of the development of this car.

"And hopefully we're seeing a progressive trend where either, when the sun is shining and it's very hot, or you get these circuits where there is a lot of traction, we'll start to be competitive."

Mercedes 'chipping away'

Russell and Antonelli were also aided by a new front wing on the car, albeit Shovlin has stated it was only "a small adjustment to help us land the balance in the right place".

Nevertheless, it provided a more comfortable feeling with the W16 for both drivers that should carry over into the final six races.

"We've been trying to work on how the car is actually handling so that the drivers aren't having to use the throttle as they come out of corners to continue turning the car," said Shovlin.

"It's now wanting to turn itself a lot better, which definitely helps. And then also just trying to insulate the tyres from the heat in the brake drum, trying to get some element of cooling around them.

"That, again, has been work that we've been chipping away at, as have all teams. And hopefully we've made some useful gains in that area."