Lando Norris celebrated a start-to-finish victory in the floodlit Singapore Grand Prix. The McLaren driver won the 18th of 24 races in the Formula 1 World Championship on the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sunday, almost 21 seconds ahead of world champion Max Verstappen in the Red Bull. Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri came third, ahead of Mercedes driver George Russell and Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. In the battle for the World Championship, Norris is now 52 points behind leader Verstappen.
In typical Singapore conditions of over 30 degrees and high humidity, Norris achieved his third GP victory; the Englishman had already triumphed in Miami and Zandvoort this year. “The car was great. I was able to push, we flew the whole race and at the end I was able to chill. It was a great race, tough but very enjoyable,” said the winner.
Verstappen: “Good result”
Verstappen, on the other hand, must still wait for his first success in the Southeast Asian city-state. However, the Dutchman equaled his best placing here from 2018, when he also finished second. “On a weekend where we knew we were struggling, second place is a good result,” summed up the three-time world champion. In the constructors’ championship, McLaren extended its lead over Red Bull to 41 points.
The start took place without any major incidents, Norris confidently maintained his lead and thus broke his personal pole ban. In the five races so far from starting from the first position, the Briton had never managed to be in front at the end of the first lap. The 24-year-old was then safely in the lead, really upped the pace from lap ten and steadily pulled away. Verstappen, for his part, made some space for himself between himself and the Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and Russell that were behind him.
Record world champion Hamilton, who unlike most of the others was driving on soft tires, was the first of the leading group to come into the pits and have hard tires fitted. It was only ten laps later that the competition gradually followed, all of them using a one-stop strategy. Verstappen lined up just behind Charles Leclerc, but caught up with the Monegasque driver a short time later.
Just before changing his tires, Norris reported a problem with the front wing because he had touched the track barrier after a driving error. The leader got away with just a black eye. “We don’t see anything serious,” his team radioed back. “I didn’t drive over the limit, but maybe I relaxed too much at times. But it’s difficult here, it’s easy to brake too hard,” said Norris after the race.
Piastri was the last top driver to get a fresh set of tires on lap 39 of 62 and subsequently overtook fourth-placed Hamilton. Carlos Sainz benefited the most from the changeover, as the Ferrari driver moved up to sixth place in his 200th GP. In the end, the Spaniard finished seventh.
At the front, Norris drove a lonely race despite another approach to the track wall. Verstappen was also safe. But behind him there were a few position changes. Piastri overtook Russell and made it onto the podium. Leclerc caught Hamilton, who finished sixth in his 350th F1 race, and then found himself up against Russell. Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez scored a point in tenth place.
At the end, there was also a first in Singapore. For the first time, the Grand Prix ended without the use of the safety car.
In what may be his last race for Team Racing Bulls, Daniel Ricciardo drove the fastest lap and snatched a World Championship point from Norris, who had held the best time until then. This was probably the Australian’s parting gift to Red Bull and Verstappen, who politely thanked him. There will now be a four-week break before the US Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, continues on October 20.
Article updated at 5.05pm
