Norris runs away from Verstappen from the start to take dominant win in Singapore; Verstappen still secures P2 but Piastri adds to McLaren points haul in P3

After taking pole by just two-tenths on Saturday, it wasn’t quite clear how much race pace McLaren’s Land Norris would have versus his closest rival, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. But in Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix, it quickly became apparent that the answer was more than enough to keep Verstappen, the season-long Drivers’ points leader, well and truly in the rearview mirrors. With the Flying Dutchman’s best chance a potential early overtake at the very start of the race at the ultra-tight Marina Bay Street Circuit, where passing is always at a premium, it was instead Norris who made the superior getaway when the lights went out. The young English contender quickly demonstrated just how much the McLaren MCL38 has overhauled the RB20 as the season has progressed, scampering away with relative ease and quickly gapping the pursuing Red Bull. With his main opponent on this day not Verstappen but the heat, humidity and his own fight for concentration in the face of fatigue, Norris had a few small moments and brushes with the wall. But he kept it clean enough to take a dominant win at the end of 62 grueling laps without a Safety Car or respite of any kind, to the tune of a nearly twenty-one-second advantage over Max. The only thing that stopped Norris from having an absolutely perfect weekend was the Red Bull sister team’s Daniel Ricciardo of RB Honda, who made a late stop for fresh Soft Pirellis and subsequently stole the fastest lap point away from Norris. It was nice bit of long game strategy from Red Bull in a tight championship and a suitably selfless gesture from Ricciardo, who ran his last race for RB on Sunday and possibly in Formula 1, the affable Aussie set to be replaced in the car when the teams unpack in Austin by promising rookie New Zealander, Liam Lawson.

And it’s lights out in Singapore! 🤩

Catch up with the highlights as Norris and Verstappen went head to head off the line 👇#F1 #SingaporeGP

— Formula 1 (@F1) September 22, 2024

Despite his recent surge in momentum, Norris has not been able to make much of a dent in Verstappen’s championship lead, as the Dutch master has proven superb at damage limitation in the face of the McLaren onslaught. As a team, however, McLaren have begun to pull away in the all important Constructors’ points, helped in no small part by having the superior dynamic duo of Norris and Oscar Piastri, who are both able to compete for victory on any given Sunday. Piastri did his part yet again in Singapore, fighting back from a P5 start on the grid to a valuable podium position and P3 by the time the checkers flew. Contrast that with Verstappen’s Red Bull stablemate, Sergio Perez, who saw his struggles continue after a heartbreaking DNF in Baku last weekend when the Mexican seemed assured of a podium. Perez only qualified P13 here at Marina Bay and then trudged his way to a solitary point with a P10 finish. Unfortunately for Checo, with both McLaren pilots firing on all cylinders week in and week out, it makes his lack of points performance all the more glaring.

Mercedes’ George Russell was able to hold off Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc in a grueling, multi-lap defense to secure P4, exactly where Russell started. Teammate Lewis Hamilton, who started alongside Russell in P3 on the grid, was hamstrung by a curious decision to start the seven-time champ on Soft tires, while all the other contenders ran their first stint on the preferred Mediums. If the intent was to help Hamilton to a superior start and get up amongst Verstappen and Norris, it failed miserably and Hamilton not only had to pit prematurely but also ended up holding up teammate Russell in the first stanza of the race. Compromised as he was by the dubious strategy, Hamilton recovered as best he could but drifted to a desultory P6 finish. With Lecerc fighting hard to redeem his qualifying mistake that saw a good lap time deleted and a subsequent P9 start, the Monegasque worked himself up to that hard earned P5 result despite being unable to make the a final overtake on Russell. Teammate Sainz, who crashed out in quali and started P10, was also able to make up some ground and an OK P7 placing. Veteran overachievers Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg finished P8 and P9 for Aston Martin and Haas respectively.

Top 10 finishers of the Singapore GP:

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is in a nearly a month’s time, as F1 returns to United States for the second of three races scheduled there this season, this time to the fantastic purpose built track that is the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The wide open straights and long, flowing Esses should be better suited to Red Bull’s strong points but McLaren is looking like the best car on any track at the moment. Hope to see you then to find out how it all shakes out!