Lewis Hamilton says only the Malaysian Grand Prix will reveal whether the advantage teammate Nico Rosberg had in Singapore is likely to become a trend.
Hamilton struggled to find the a quick set-up in Singapore after losing track time in practice to a hydraulic leak. Meanwhile, Rosberg nailed his set-up early in the weekend and went on to beat Hamilton in qualifying by 0.704s - the largest margin he has had over Hamilton since the two became teammates in 2013.
Hamilton was unable to explain the issue when asked during his media session on Saturday night in Singapore, and after finishing a distant third on Sunday evening was still unsure if the problem was just a blip or the start of a trend.
"The next race will tell," he said. "I am not really thinking too much about it at the moment.
"Nico just did an exceptional job in Singapore and we didn't. What it is going to take [to get back on top]? Just some good weekends, which we have had in the past."
While Hamilton was reluctant to talk about the issues, team boss Toto Wolff gave some insight into the problems his driver faced.
"He just started on the wrong foot and couldn't recover," Wolff said. "In Singapore, if you are lacking laps in free practice and lacking direction on where to take the set-up it is a vicious circle. Confidence is key around Singapore and if your teammate gets out of the blocks the way he did then it becomes very difficult. I think Lewis is the first one to acknowledge that."
In the past drivers have copied their teammate's set-up when they have struggled, but Wolff said that would have represented too big a risk for Hamilton in Singapore.
"You cannot just guess and the approach he choose was probably right. He stayed where he was without deciding on a particular avenue because he just simply didn't know. That was down to the lack of running."
Rosberg has now won three races in a row, while Hamillton has had to settle for two third places and a second place since the summer break. But Wolff warns against drawing too many conclusions from the most recent results.
"We have the tendency of talking one driver up and the other one down, and we have had that for three years since the two of them have been fighting for the championship. We have seen those waves and I remember talking about Lewis' momentum a few weeks ago and then suddenly we had this mega Nico weekend and in two weeks we are going to see if that changes or stays the same in Malaysia."