SINGAPORE, Sept 17 ― A mild commotion broke out outside the F1 paddock yesterday, as the sight of British driver Lewis Hamilton triggered a mad rush from fans gathered there to catch a glimpse of their favourite driver.

Spotting a grey cap and Hawaii-print shorts as he strolled casually by, Hamilton is clearly enjoying the tropical 33°C heat here at the Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix.

Even with Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg in quick pursuit in the championship race, the current points leader appeared in a relaxed mood, obliging fans with selfies and autographs just hours ahead of yesterday’s first practice session at the Marina Bay circuit.

And the three-time world champion has every reason to be, with Mercedes seemingly uncatchable this season. The duo have hogged top spot on the podium at every race this year except for the Spanish Grand Prix.

While Formula 1 fans may moan about the boring, predictable routine that is the 2016 F1 season, teams and drivers here say it is hardly boring for those trying to play catch-up.

"I can imagine it’s boring for people watching but, for us, it’s far from boring,” said Cyril Abiteboul, managing director of Renault Sport Racing.

"It’s not boring for us because we try to catch up. We cannot hold them responsible for the lack of interest in the sport just because they did a fantastic job.”

McLaren driver Jenson Button agreed that teams need to raise their game to match the superiority and speed of the Silver Arrows, as he told TODAY: "It definitely doesn’t help having just one team win the championship for three, coming to four years.

"It’s a shame, but it’s not Mercedes’ fault. It’s our fault for not doing a good-enough job.

"When you see a race like we had in Barcelona, when both Mercedes drivers crashed at the start, it was a great race because you had two teams, Ferrari and Red Bull, fighting for victory and people love that.”

Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo is keeping his fingers crossed that next year’s rule changes — an overhaul of the aerodynamic regulations will see a wider chassis and tyres — will see a closer championship race.

"You can see that even if Nico wins or Lewis, they’re celebrating but in the way they just beat one other guy, they haven’t beat 20 people,” he said. "It is what it is. Of course we’ll all love to be in Lewis or Nico’s car and get 10 wins in a season but next year hopefully it changes and we’ll be closer.”

While it is a long wait for drivers with six races left in the season after Singapore, a number of teams will fancy their chances of a podium finish — or even a title win — in Singapore this weekend.

With the 5.065km, 23-turn, Marina Bay circuit expected to favour the Red Bull and Ferrari cars, four-time Singapore champion Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) and teammate Kimi Raikkonen, Red Bull’s Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, who is the Spanish Grand Prix winner and the only other driver to win a race this season, will be gunning for pole position during today’s qualifying session.

Dutch teenager Verstappen was the quickest in the first practice last night, clocking 1:45.823 ahead of team-mate Ricciardo, while Vettel, Hamilton and Rosberg were placed third, fourth and fifth. Rosberg also gave a mighty scare to spectators trackside late in the first practice session, crashing his car into the Turn 18 barriers. Despite losing his front wing, the German was unhurt and made his way back to the garage.

Qualifying for the Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix will flag off at 9pm today. ― TODAY