Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin says the team has reasons to believe that its W14 car will perform well next weekend in Singapore due to the track's maximum downforce nature.
After a difficult first part of its 2023 campaign, Mercedes made good progress over the summer in boosting its car's performance although its black arrow remains a somewhat inconsistent proposition on race day.
High-speed circuits are still the car's weak point due to its lack of downforce, as its results at Monza indicated, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton both outpaced by their direct Ferrari rivals at the Temple of Speed where Red Bull's Max Verstappen upheld his outfit's flawless track record.
But Singapore's Marina Bay track and its sweltering streets should prove much more favourable for Mercedes.
"We are certainly hoping!" Shovlin said on Mercedes’ post-Monza debrief on YouTube.
"There is a reason to think that the car will work better and that is because Singapore is a maximum downforce circuit.
"Our performance at the high downforce tracks like at Barcelona, Budapest, and even Zandvoort the car was working well, and we’ve had pretty strong performance.
"We’re hoping to be able to be a bit quicker there and get back to a position where we can challenge for podiums."
In Singapore, Mercedes will need to take into account an alteration to the Marina Bay layout that has shaved 135 meters off the track's total length but which has also made the circuit slightly faster.
"The track though does throw up some pretty unique challenges and we’ve also got some layout changes for this year," Shovlin added.
"There is a sequence of four corners near the end of the lap that have been removed where the track used to go underneath a grandstand through a tunnel.
"That’s now gone so we’ve got a longer straight which will change a little bit how the tyres are working.
"There is a bit less energy there but it’s also an abrasive tarmac. We’ve got the softest three compounds so it’s a pretty tough race on the tyres and it’s also a bumpy street circuit.
"Added to that, the race is run at night. Plenty of challenges for us to try and tackle then but we are going there optimistic for a strong performance."
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