Mercedes sets ambitious target for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell ahead of the 2023 F1 Singapore GP

Mercedes hopes to return to podium-contending form after a disappointing race weekend in Monza.

The team had a difficult outing in Italy as the car was nowhere near the front two teams in the low downforce setup. By the end of the race, the team could only manage a P5-P6 result with its drivers.

Coming to Singapore, Mercedes is aiming to return to the podium contending form it displayed in Zandvoort.

Team director Andrew Shovlin expressed confidence that the team could challenge for the podium in Singapore because the nature of the track is similar to the layouts in Hungary and Zandvoort.

Answering a question about the team's prospects in Singapore and whether the team was anticipating a better weekend, the Mercedes director said in the post-Monza debrief video:

"We are certainly hoping! 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," he added.

The German team has performed well in Hungary and Zandvoort. Lewis Hamilton secured the pole position in Hungary, and George Russell qualified in the top three in Zandvoort.

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Mercedes's director details the challenges in Singapore

Andrew Shovlin also discussed some of the challenges posed by Singapore as he explained the new track layout that would be used this time around. Addressing the abrasive nature of the track surface and its impact, Shovlin said:

"The track though does throw up some pretty unique challenges and we’ve also got some layout changes for this year. 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," he added.

He added that the race, featuring the softest tire compounds and a bumpy street circuit, presents a tough challenge for the drivers.

"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," Shovlin said.

It will be interesting to see how Mercedes performs in Singapore, as this will be a track where the car could challenge Red Bull and Max Verstappen.