George Russell has criticised his Mercedes W15 for not being as "well connected" as its predecessor around the streets of Singapore. The British driver endured a difficult day at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, having to settle for P16 and seventh-quickest in the two practice sessions. However, it was a moment in the closing stages of the final minutes of running that was most notable for the 26-year-old, crashing into the wall at Turn 8, bringing out the yellow flags. The two-time grand prix winner missed out on a podium in last season's Singapore Grand Prix after a last-lap crash whilst fighting for victory. Russell, however, feels a stark contrast between his current Mercedes and the one he almost triumphed in last year. When asked about the FP2 incident, he replied: "Not a lot to say, really. Locked up, took the front wing off." He went on to provide further context to his torrid evening, highlighting that Mercedes already made significant alterations between the two practice sessions. "It was a really challenging Friday for us," added Russell. "We were really off the pace today. We need to understand why that is. "I'm sure we'll find some answers, but we've made some big changes from FP1 into FP2. The car is just not really feeling that well connected, as it was this time 12 months ago and in recent races. So we need to try and get to the bottom of it."
'There's a lot of surprises out there'
Unsurprisingly, McLaren and Ferrari dominated both sessions. As expected, Red Bull struggled relatively, but there were some surprise packages under the Marina Bay lights. Russell was quick to identify RB and Williams as the shock performers, but ultimately expects Mercedes to have the measure over both, aiming to settle between the front four and the field behind. "There's a lot of surprises out there, he stated. "You've got the VCARBS [RBs] really quick, you've got the Williams really quick. "The Red Bull seems to be off the pace. There seems to be a big gap to the McLarens and the Ferraris. "So, as a minimum, we hope to be in-between that midfield gap and the front four. But right now, we've got a lot of work on our hands."
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