Lando Norris has reduced the gap in the F1 title race to Max Verstappen to 52 points, claiming his third win of the season in a dour Singapore Grand Prix.
But the Red Bull ace came home second, with Aussie Oscar Piastri’s poor last lap in qualifying – which saw him starting fifth – proving costly as he couldn’t get anywhere close to the Dutchman.
While Piastri’s eventual third place was a strong result given the difficulty of overtaking on the sweaty street circuit, and it marked his fifth podium in six races, it was a missed opportunity to take more points away from Norris’ rival.
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RACE CENTRE: Singapore Formula 1 Grand Prix live updates
For McLaren overall it was a great weekend as they extended their lead in the constructors, with Sergio Perez failing to make much impact and finishing 10th, while the Ferrari pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz could only recover from their qualifying flops to finish fifth and seventh respectively.
“That was a champion’s drive. Absolutely superb,” Martin Brundle said on commentary.
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After a steady start, Norris was told by his race engineer to pick up the pace, and did so dramatically quickly building an enormous lead over second-placed Verstappen – reaching almost 23 seconds before the champion boxed on lap 30.
It came after Norris feared front wing damage from contact with one of the street circuit walls; it was not enough to force the team to change it when he boxed a lap later.
But the extent of Norris’ pace was apparent when he came out three seconds ahead of Piastri, having gained a full pit stop’s distance in half a race.
Norris made more serious contact with the circuit wall on lap 47 after what appeared to be a momentary lapse caused by the exhaustion of the season’s toughest race for the drivers; though he then set the fastest lap of the race on the very next go-around.
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The key decision for Piastri was whether to pit early, trying to undercut the Mercedes pair ahead of him, or wait until the Mercedes pitted and then show the McLaren’s true pace (being used to its fullest by Norris).
He opted for the latter, looking to pass Lewis Hamilton and George Russell with a combination of an overcut and strong pace in the second stint – also hoping for a safety car – though Piastri questioned being left out and made to overtake Hamilton on track.
He came out 5.5 seconds off the podium, and a massive tyre delta allowed the Aussie to pass both Hamilton and Russell with relative ease; but was 20 seconds behind second-placed Verstappen with 23 laps remaining, and that gap never really closed.
Daniel Ricciardo was one of the early stoppers in his RB and frustrated his teammate Yuki Tsunoda when the Japanese demanded to be allowed to pass him on a different strategy with 21 laps left.
The Aussie finished 18th, last of the finishers, pitting late to take the fastest lap away from Norris – helping his former teammate Verstappen, prompting a radio thank-you from the Red Bull star – in what is tipped to be his final F1 race.
“My understanding is that Liam Lawson will be in that car in Austin (the next race),” Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle said pre-race.
During the Grand Prix his fellow commentator David Croft said they were expecting an announcement in the coming days.
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SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX STARTING GRID
1. Lando Norris
McLaren
2. Max Verstappen
Red Bull Racing
3. Lewis Hamilton
Mercedes
4. George Russell
Mercedes
5. Oscar Piastri
McLaren
6. Nico Hulkenberg
Haas
7. Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin
8. Yuki Tsunoda
RB
9. Charles Leclerc
Ferrari
10. Carlos Sainz
Ferrari
11. Alex Albon
Williams
12. Franco Colapinto
Williams
13. Sergio Perez
Red Bull Racing
14. Kevin Magnussen
Haas
15. Esteban Ocon
Alpine
16. Daniel Ricciardo
RB
17. Lance Stroll
Aston Martin
18. Pierre Gasly
Alpine
19. Valtteri Bottas
Sauber
20. Zhou Guanyu
Sauber
Source Agencies
