Allison: Substantial upgrade for Mercedes W15 set for Austin

Mercedes are still struggling to understand how to get their W15 to work its tyres properly, a weakness team boss Toto Wolff has pointed out recently as their form continues to be inconsistent over the course of race weekends.

In the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend, seven-time Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton qualified third fastest, with George Russell fourth.

However, in the race, Hamilton finished sixth after a bad strategy, while Russell finished where he started in fourth, as their W15s were once again inconsistent and not always firing up their tyres properly.

Reflecting the race in a video on Mercedes' YouTube channel, Allison said: "We will be trying to figure out how to mitigate what ailed us this weekend [Singapore], how to figure out how to make the tyres run better on these overheating circuits. We'll be also doing quite a lot of work to bring our last upgrade of the season together.

"We've got quite a fairly substantial set of new clothes for the car coming for Austin that we hope will give us a decent weekend there," he revealed.

Allison reflected on the frustration of both Mercedes drivers with the car; he added: "I think like the rest of us they're feeling fed up that the car was not particularly competitive in race trim.

"It was okay in qualy but not in race trim," he pointed out. "We suffered again from a thing that has been problematic for us, which is on softer rubber at tracks where tyre temperature is at a premium, where it's very easy to overheat, we lose relative competitiveness, and Singapore is at the extreme end of that experience, and it was quite a difficult thing for them to manage.

"And to add insult to injury, 30 degrees air temperature, 70 percent relative humidity, it was very hot in the car and at the end of the race both of them were feeling that.

"They feel a lot better now from the heat part of it, you know. Cold ice bath and a few drinks, and they bounce back relatively swiftly, but the more significant thing, which is caring about the pace of the car, that hurt lingers a little longer," Allison concluded.

Both Hamilton and Russell did not take part in the post-race media duties at the Singapore Grand Prix as they were too exhausted after the 62-lap race.