Hamilton shrugs off lack of FP2 running

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Lewis Hamilton is unconcerned despite missing out on the majority of running in FP2 for the Singapore Grand Prix with a hydraulic problem.

The championship leader returned to the pits after ten laps due to a hydraulic alert which required investigation. Mercedes was unable to get the car back out on track before the end of the session, with Hamilton missing out on his long run, but the Briton was not fazed by the lack of running.

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“It is a little bit of a disadvantage but it’s nothing that we can’t handle," Hamilton said. "There’s days when we’ve missed a whole session.

“It’s OK, we’re going to be fighting tomorrow, for sure, hopefully for the front row.”

Confirming the FP2 problem has already been resolved - revealing a valve needed replacing - Hamilton says the biggest relief was to find Mercedes is not suffering a repeat of its problems from 2015 at Singapore.

"It’s much, much better. Obviously last year was a disaster but today we looked like we’re quick and it looks like it’s genuine pace so I think we have a fight on our hands, hopefully with Ferrari.

“You knew straight away the car has been a lot different compared to how it was last year. Last year the car was sliding around a lot like we had really low downforce when this weekend we’ve got a lot of grip so that’s a positive.”

Hamilton also tested the Halo in FP1 and says he has no concerns about visibility when running the cockpit protection device as a result.

“The Halo honestly I barely noticed it, apart from when I’m in the garage and I’ve got the TV screen, I can’t see the TV screen! But it was actually not really a problem.

"In my mirrors I couldn’t see my rear wing so it blocks a bit of a view in the mirror but otherwise going forwards I didn’t really notice it. I kind of felt like I should have just kept it on. It definitely doesn’t look good but when we go back to that 17% it’s better than nothing.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.