Disappointed Lewis Hamilton cheerleading for a George Russell win at the 2023 F1 Singapore GP

A disappointed Lewis Hamilton is hoping George Russell can nail the start of the race and win the 2023 F1 Singapore GP. The two teammates had a somewhat contrasting fortune in qualifying. While Russell will start the race on the front row, Hamilton was close to half a second slower than his teammate and will start in P5.

Disappointed after his session, Hamilton admitted that the car was capable of more, but the overnight changes made to it were responsible for the setup going away from him.

George Russell was, however, able to do a much better job and will line up on the front row after being less than a 10th of a second slower than pole position.

Looking forward to the race on Sunday, Hamilton hoped that George Russell could get a strong start and challenge for a win. Talking to Sky Sports, he said:

"Today, we clearly had a really great package. The car was feeling incredible yesterday and there was so much hope that with some tweaks, we could challenge the Ferraris. One of the cars was able to do that and I wasn't today (Saturday). We made big changes overnight and it got away from me again. I was just so slow today."

He added:

"Definitely disappointing, but tomorrow is a new day and I really hope George gets a great start tomorrow and puts some pressure on those Ferraris. It would be great for him to get a win."

Lewis Hamilton's teammate hoping to make the most of the off-set strategy

George Russell was confident of his prospects in the race and felt that having an extra set of medium tires was going to play to his advantage. He said (via F1's official website):

"Really happy with this weekend as a whole. I felt really confident in the car. The team did a great job with the strategy. We are on an off-set strategy compared to everybody else. So, we have an extra set of medium tyres tomorrow which nobody around us has. So to get to Q3 and be on the front row with a strategic advantage tomorrow is an exciting place to be."

It will be interesting to see how the race pans out on Sunday and it would be foolish to count out Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes driver will surely try to target a podium as he's not too far behind the leading trio at the start.