The threat of haze may be hanging over this weekend’s Formula One Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2019, but drivers and teams are not worried about this being a concern.

Explained Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton at an FIA press conference in Singapore on Thursday, “We all have doctors on hand. It’s not been brought up as an issue for us, but I am conscious of it. Naturally, I don’t know how it is for the drivers, but you blow your nose after a race, dirt and soot comes out of your nose. You’ve got the carbon that you’re breathing in. Clean air is naturally an important part.”

Lewis Hamilton

And continued Hamilton, “I’ve been told not to go out for a run outside, for example, but I think tonight and tomorrow, I will be speaking to my team. There’s not really a lot that we can do, we can’t have any filters or anything else in our helmets, so it is what it is, I guess.”

Hamilton’s Looking For Fifth Win In Singapore

A four-time winner in Singapore – a race that’s considered to be the toughest race on the F1 calendar due to the unforgiving tropical humidity and the technical circuit – Hamilton is looking to make it five this Sunday. 

This is despite Hamilton’s results this season not quite going as expected; the Mercedes driver might have won six out of his first eight F1 races this season, but after that, he only took the chequered flag in two of the next six races.

Explained Hamilton “Well this is one of the toughest races of the year, if not the toughest, physically and mentally and then we come here each year, it shifts between the Ferraris, the Red Bulls and us. Last year the Red Bulls… they’ve been particularly quick over the years and we anticipate that they are going to be strong this weekend.”

Hamilton continued, “And again, I have no idea whether Ferrari will be quick, as they have been in the last races, or not. We’ll just focus on ourselves and try to make sure we extract the most we can. We’ve not really performed that well over the last couple of years, but we’ve come out with not such bad results due to other circumstances so I hope that we fare well.”

Renault To Continue Strong Form in Singapore

On the other hand, Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, fresh off a fourth placed finish in Monza – his best result for Renault this season so far – aims to pile some pressure on Hamilton in Singapore.

Daniel Ricciardo at the F1 Singapore GP 2018

Said Ricciardo, “Canada was the standout for us in the first half of this year, and I think Spa was a pretty positive weekend for us up until the start of the race, but to back it up in Monza, and for both cars to do it was really good; definitely strong from the start of the weekend. As a driver, it’s nice to get a result, but for the team to get that, yeah that made it even better.”

His Renault team mate Nico Hulkenberg had finished in fifth position.

Continued Ricciardo, “For the last few races, we seem to perform better on lower downforce circuits, but going back to Monaco that’s the most similar circuit to probably here and we qualified well there, so I think we do have the potential to be good on this circuit as well. I don’t think it comes as natural for us or our car at the moment, but I think we can put it together if we work hard for it. The pace we need is ultimately there, in the car; we just have to find it.”

Lando Norris: McLaren Will Make Amends in Singapore

McLaren’s Lando Norris, after a disappointing result at the Belgium Grand Prix earlier this month where he was forced to retire on the last lap due to engine failure, hopes to make amends in Singapore.

Said Norris, “As much as it’s been annoying and disappointing, especially at Spa, and I was on for my best result, we haven’t had the best few weekends in a row. After Monza, Renault caught up quite a bit in the championships, so it’s been tough for me because when you’re on for such a good result, I’m a bit annoyed.”

Though he was still awarded Driver of the Day for his efforts, Norris had been well—placed to finish fifth in Belgium, a result which would have beat his sixth-place finishes at both Bahrain and Austria.

Said Norris, “At the end of the day, we’ve still been working hard. We’ve shown at points what we can do, but it happens. It wasn’t in my control. It wasn’t in my engineer’s control. It’s just something that happens in Formula 1 so I just have to move on.”

And Norris also added, “Looking to the Singapore race, everyone says Singapore is the toughest race for the drivers physically, for the concentration you have to have on the track, and then in combination with the heat, so I’ve done everything I can training-wise. I want to be hopeful and say that it’s going to be better than Monza because I don’t think Monza was the best for us, even though Carlos (Sainz) qualified well. I don’t think it was the easiest track compared to some of the others, so I am hoping that this weekend we can be a bit stronger but at the same time, I think we all know it will be quite a difficult one.”

Images are courtesy of Singapore GP Pte Ltd.