Hamilton upbeat despite hydraulic issue

Lewis Hamilton remains upbeat despite a less than impressive start to the Singapore Grand Prix on Friday.

The Formula One championship leader could only manage fourth and seventh in the opening two sessions of the race weekend as problems with his Mercedes ended his second attempt prematurely.

Hamilton appeared to struggle with the ultrasoft tyres in FP2 and he could only manage 10 laps before a hydraulic issue left him kicking his heels in the garage.

The Briton remains upbeat, though, despite missing out on crucial time on the track to collate data ahead of qualifying and Sunday's race.

"It [the hydraulic issue] doesn't look like anything serious," he said. "The guys are working on it and it should be fine for tomorrow, which is the main thing.

"Our pace looked okay today. Definitely much better than last year so I'd say we're looking relatively strong."