In a show of impressive skill and strategy, Lando Norris secured a decisive win at the Singapore Grand Prix for McLaren. Norris’ masterful driving was a sight to behold at the Marina Bay Circuit on Sunday. An uneventful night race under the city’s bright floodlights saw Norris keep his car untouched even after skimming a wall twice.
Norris demonstrated his racing prowess by surpassing Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who finished second, and his own McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri, who took third place. Mercedes’ George Russell obtained the fourth place, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton secured the fifth and sixth places, respectively.
With this triumph, Norris edges closer to his championship competitor Verstappen, with only a 52-point difference, and six crucial rounds remaining. It reaffirms the streak of dominance Norris and his team McLaren have been displaying, after beating others to the finish line by a staggering 21 seconds. It was an unhurried event along the Singaporean streets, becoming the first uninterrupted by a safety car at Marina Bay.
Although outpaced, Verstappen considers this a satisfactory outcome. Red Bull incorrectly predicted difficulties navigating the circuit’s high-downforce corners and bumps. Despite driving a car often deemed unmanageable, Verstappen managed to lose considerably fewer points than expected to Norris. This performance brings hope to Red Bull ahead of the next race in Austin, Texas, where the team anticipates a more favourable outcome with vehicle improvements.
Norris’ victory was precisely what he needed. His initial win in Singapore marks his third for this season and, in addition to his previous win in Zandvoort, his second in the last four races, keeping the reigning world champion under constant threat.
Norris displayed commendable skill by rectifying the team’s previous problematic starts, which were quite detrimental in this season. The team showed quite a grip on the situation which is remarkable considering the brief run to the first turn in Singapore. This is the inaugural victory for McLaren since Hamilton’s 2009 triumph.
Norris showcased excellent initial prowess, maintaining his lead while Hamilton and Verstappen held their second and third positions respectively. He had gained a considerable lead of one and a half seconds by the third lap. This gave him the advantage of running in clean air and gradually getting his tyres started.
The anticipation of a one-stop race led the racers to pace themselves while dealing with the early heavy fuel loads, ensuring minimal wear and tear on their tyres due to the scorching track. The front four were a mere seven seconds apart.
Norris enjoyed a pleasant lead, having created a gap of over two seconds by lap eight. He showed impressive speed, clocking several quickest laps, even though he claimed to the team he wasn’t exerting himself to the fullest.
Hamilton, who started third, chose soft tyres. He switched to hard tyres in lap 18 and despite swiftly making his way past Kevin Magnussen for 12th place, he found himself held up in traffic.
Russell pitted on lap 28 and reemerged to outpace Hamilton and Piastri for the fourth position. In a bid to indeed secure this, Russell put his foot down. Although Norris hit a bump in the road as he reported having brushed the wall at turn 14 on lap 30 just before Verstappen’s Red Bull pit.
McLaren decided against changing Norris’s front wing during his pit stop a lap later. They felt the damage wasn’t severe enough. As a result, Norris came out back in front. Piastri waited for a potential safety car that would allow for a free pit stop, but this ultimately did not materialise, and he had to come in on lap 39. Once all the stops were accounted for, Norris was 23 seconds ahead of Verstappen, with Russell and Hamilton trailing in third and fourth respectively, and Piastri in fifth. Nonetheless, Piastri, with his newer tyres, managed to easily overtake Hamilton to secure the fourth place.
During the 45th lap of a 62 circuit race, Australian Russell overtook Verstappen, who held a lead of 18 seconds, in pursuit for victory. Norris was ahead by 24 seconds but showed no sign of slowing down, as he brushed against the wall once more. His team suggested he take a break and regain his attention for the remainder of the race. In response, Norris refocused and continued his relentless effort. Simultaneously, Verstappen held strong, managing to maintain his secondary position against Piastri’s forward push. In the end, the British driver navigated the last laps with sharp accuracy and sealed his well-earned victory.
As for the other racers, Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz achieved seventh place, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso ranked eighth, followed by Haas’s Nico Hülkenberg in the ninth position, and Sergio Pérez of Red Bull securing the tenth spot. –– Guardian.