Hamilton wants Ferrari, Red Bull fight in Singapore

Lewis Hamilton is hoping Red Bull and Ferrari can bring the fight to Mercedes at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Hamilton took a dominant victory at Marina Bay last year, taking pole position by three tenths of a second – a mighty margin around the slow-speed circuit – and then dominating the race.

Mercedes had typically struggled at the high-downforce course, but they have been impressive at similar circuits all season, with Hamilton or teammate Valtteri Bottas winning at every street circuit this year.

Ferrari have won the past two races, but are expected to fall behind both Mercedes and Red Bull in Singapore, although that is little comfort for Hamilton.

"I am not looking forward to the next race thinking it will swing our way," Hamilton said.

"I go to the factory and do the same process, hope we can improve our car and improve our methods and do a better job.

"I hope I can do a better job in the next race and if they are as competitive then great. I hope that it is competitive between us, Red Bull and Ferrari. I want this battle to continue — more opportunities like that would be great."

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff also urged caution in reading too much into Mercedes' strengths at similar races so far this year.

"For a long time, Singapore used to be one of our weakest tracks, but we've made some inroads into that and performed well last year," Wolff said.

"However, there are no home runs at a track like Singapore: we need to understand this car and this year's tyres on a very particular track layout and take absolutely nothing for granted in our approach to the weekend."

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