Lewis Hamilton aiming to get back on song in Singapore as he returns to the scene of one of his greatest drives
- Lewis Hamilton hoping to end run of three races without a victory in Singapore
- The Brit produced one of his finest ever laps in qualifying here 12 months ago
- He topped the second practice charts at the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Friday
Lewis Hamilton can raid the unforgettable memory of this day a year ago to inspire an end to his mini-slump of just two wins from the last six races.
It is the sort of record that all his contemporaries would sell their right foots for, of course, but considering the world champion began the season on fire – six victories from the first eight rounds – he would not want to be judged by any lower standard.
The good news for Hamilton is that he is returning to the bulb-lit scene of one of his greatest drives – the blur of magic he unfolded in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix 12 months ago.
Lewis Hamilton looks on in the Paddock after Friday’s practice at the Marina Bay Street Circuit
It was perhaps his finest lap of all – certainly one of two, the other contender being his pole at a wet Monza the season before – and it was with jaws on the floor that observers and the vanquished alike looked up in awe.
‘Stardust,’ said his Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. I can’t explain what happened.’
Last year, his car had struggled on the circuit all weekend, a significant factor in hailing his from-nowhere, three-tenths-of-a-second margin over Max Verstappen as super-human. This year, the auguries are better. Hamilton was quickest in practice on Friday.
Hamilton celebrates after winning pole position for the 2018 Singapore Grand Prix
Not that is was a day without incident for him. His team were fined £4,400 for mistakenly filling him up with fuel 11C cooler than the rules permit. But that was in the afternoon running rather than the night session when he led the timing screens.
Hamilton, 34, has traditionally stepped up as a season has matured but not so far in 2019. He crashed in Germany in July and had to retire. He fell off the track a fortnight ago in Monza. His last win came in Hungary at the start of August.
But he still leads the championship by 63 points from his team-mate Valtteri Bottas, with Red Bull’s Verstappen 99 off the summit, so any problems he is enduring are very much of the first-world variety.
As Hamilton chases his third successive win here, he is aware how crucial pole is around the 23 corners of the city state’s tight roads, where on Friday the polluting haze of the last fortnight abated.
Eight times in 11 editions of the race, the man who started first went on to win, and on the other three occasions incidents prevented the pole-sitter from converting his initial advantage.
Hamilton makes his way round the track during Friday’s second practice session in Singapore
Asked to remember his dazzling qualifying performance of a year ago, the Briton said: ‘It’s a bit of a blur, the whole lap. I don’t know who was driving.
‘The previous sessions had been up and down and this just happened to be the right lap at the right moment. The stars were aligned. The chances of it happening again are quite slim.
‘It is very intense. It is about timing and positioning and getting into a rhythm to maximise the width of the circuit and the potential in your car.’