A dominant win in a hot Singapore Grand Prix drew Lando Norris another eight points closer to the championship lead as the McLaren driver continues to pile on the pressure.
Despite two brushes with the wall and clipping a barrier in the street event, Norris started on pole and drove a quiet race at the front and didn’t even lose the lead when he made his only pit stop for tires.
“It was an amazing race — a few too many close calls and I had a couple of little moments in the middle, but it was well controlled otherwise and the car was mega, I could push and we were flying the whole race,” he said. “It was still tough and I’m a bit out of breath. I could have taken it a lot more easy — I’m a little dizzy at the minute, but it’s all good. I wanted to have the biggest lead possible, so it was good fun.”
Norris crossed the finish line 20.945 seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, with Oscar Piastri finishing third, 41.823 seconds behind his teammate.
Norris’ win closed the gap to championship leader Verstappen to 52 points, with six grands prix and three sprint races to go. Norris has 279 points compared to Verstappen’s 331. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who finished fifth in Singapore, lies third with 245.
The McLaren first and third also helped the team pad its lead in the constructors standings by another 21 points to open a 41-point gap to Red Bull, 516-475.
For his part, Verstappen said he simply tried to do the best he could and tried to mange his race, knowing a win wasn’t in the cards.
“Pretty much my race was just by myself,” he said. “I think that on a weekend where we knew we were going to struggle, so to be P2 is a good achievement but we are unhappy with second. Now we just have to try to improve more and more.”
While Norris controlled the race from the start, Piastri needed to do some extra work in the race after qualifying fifth on Saturday, 0.428 seconds slower than polesitter Norris. He used a longer first stint to benefit from fresher tires in the end to gain two spots by the checkered flag.
“It was a good race and a good recovery from qualifying yesterday,” he said. “To get back to the podium is a great result.”
A key point for the title battle came late in the race when Visa RB driver Daniel Ricciardo pitted for fresh tires and put up the fastest lap. Taking away that point from Norris means that, even if the McLaren driver wins all the remaining races and sprints, Verstappen just needs to finish second to his rival to win his fourth consecutive title. This calculation doesn’t include fastest lap bonuses.
Speculation that Ricciardo might be dropped continued to swirl in Singapore as rumours that he’ll be replaced by Red Bull junior driver Liam Lawson gained momentum.
“A lot of emotions because — look I’m aware that it could be it,” said an emotional Ricciardo after the race. “I think it’s also exhaustion after the race, but it’s a flood of many emotions and feelings. The cockpit is something that I got very used to for many years, and yeah, that’s all I’m going to say and just savour the moment.”
Next up for F1 is Circuit of the Americas on October 20.
