What was expected to be a front-row battle at the Singapore Grand Prix between Lando Norris and Max Verstappen quickly turned lopsided as Norris raced out to an early lead and never looked back. The McLaren driver, despite a handful of close calls with the barriers at the narrow Marina Bay circuit, won by a whopping 20.945 seconds. Most importantly, he took another chunk out of Verstappen’s championship lead.
The Red Bull driver may not have won the day, but cruised around the track in clear air for most of the evening in Singapore to finish second. Oscar Piastri, who got off to a bit of a rocky start, managed to climb two places by race’s end, knocking off both Mercedes cars to claim the final spot of the podium.
Apart from Norris’s confident win, there’s plenty to unpack from Sunday in Singapore. Here’s what to know:
Norris Makes a Statement
The McLaren driver’s season has been headlined by missed opportunities and unconverted results from pole position, but not at Marina Bay. For the first time in 2024, Norris led after the first lap from pole—and he never looked back.
In a race reminiscent of a few weeks ago at the Dutch GP, Norris completely avoided pressure from any other drivers. He could ease on and off the pace whenever he wanted and never give up much ground to Verstappen. He could seemingly set the fastest lap whenever he felt like it (though more on that later). Across the second half of the season, McLaren has had a clear technical advantage over the rest of the field when all goes well. Everything aligned in Singapore.
That’s not to say Norris was without his faults. He scraped the wall with his front wing, not once but twice during the race. Both instances were more than enough to make the McLaren garage hold its collective breath. But the 24-year-old avoided any serious damage and was controlled enough to get the win.
Sizzling pace under the Singapore lights 🔥@LandoNorris cruises to a third career win 👏#F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/X9xeaYcQTT
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 22, 2024
Given the point difference between first and second, victories will go a long way in helping Norris catch Verstappen by season’s end. He now has two wins in the last four races. The gap to the two-time defending world champion is 52 points. Game on.
Red Bull and Ferrari’s Constructors’ Chances Are Fading Fast
McLaren asserted its advantage once again in Singapore, claiming a double-podium finish for the second time in three races. Meanwhile, the rest of the contending teams have hit a breaking point.
Verstappen may have claimed second, but the rest of the outings for the drivers at Red Bull and Ferrari were uninspiring. Piastri, the best driver in the field over the last eight races, easily carved his way up to third, meaning that Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz couldn’t make much noise. Though Leclerc was able to surpass Lewis Hamilton, who made his contempt for his own race strategy well known, Sainz settled for seventh. Sergio Pérez, who started in 13th for Red Bull, was mired in his own midfield battles and barely scraped together a single point (the result being that Mercedes actually outscored both Red Bull and Ferrari on Sunday).
The gap in the constructors’ championship is now out to 41 points after McLaren seized the advantage for the first time last week. The Papaya have been the highest scoring team all but once in the last seven races, while both Red Bull and Ferrari have had their fair share of blemishes on the scorecard.
Given the trend, it’s more likely that, at this point, Red Bull and Ferrari will be duking it out for second place in the standings instead of competing for a title.
Daniel Ricciardo’s Fastest Lap in His (Potential) F1 Finale
Just when it seemed like Norris would get a full set of points, including one for setting the fastest lap of the race, an unlikely figure emerged. Daniel Ricciardo, in what may be his F1 swansong, stole the extra point away on the penultimate lap.
Driving for RB, the sister team of Red Bull, the eight-time Grand Prix winner played the ultimate sacrificial teammate role. Though he was poised for an adequate finish in the mid-teens, Ricciardo pitted with just a few laps to go for fresh tires. The result was a blistering lap that eliminated Norris’s chance of picking up an additional point on Verstappen.
More than that, Ricciardo eliminated a critical opportunity for the McLaren driver going forward. Because of Ricciardo’s fastest lap, Verstappen can now finish in second place to Norris in all remaining Grands Prix and sprint races and still win the drivers’ championship. While that might not be the exact way the situation plays out, Sunday’s race in Singapore suggests it’s not out of the question.
To make Ricciardo’s fastest lap all the more unique, the 35-year-old may have gone out with a bang. Speculation has been rampant in recent weeks that RB plans to replace him with Liam Lawson in Austin for the U.S. Grand Prix. Though the team hasn’t ruled out bringing Ricciardo back in 2025, there’s a real chance that the paddock may have seen the last of the fan favorite in F1.
Danny Ric ❤️
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 22, 2024
An emotional Daniel Ricciardo speaks after the #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/53hD09HZ4z
Perhaps it’s fitting then that Ricciardo was the ultimate teammate in what may have been his final race. He also earned the driver of the day award, as voted on by fans—a fitting tribute to a talented driver and one-of-one personality.
Hülkenberg’s Defense Helps Haas in the Midfield Battle
As was mentioned in this week’s preview, a battle has been shaping up in the midfield in recent weeks as RB, Williams and Haas all seem to be hunting for sixth place. The latter made the biggest statement in Marina Bay as Nico Hülkenberg put in a defensive drive for the ages.
The 37-year-old has been one of the more consistent midfield racers this season, but had gone without points in the five outings leading up to Singapore. He then qualified in sixth and stayed there for much of Sunday’s Grand Prix, holding off Fernando Alonso and Peréz for lap after lap in the first half of the race.
Though Hülkenberg was eventually undercut by Alonso in a savvy strategy move by Aston Martin, the Haas driver once again found himself in front of Pérez after pitting, and simply wouldn’t budge. He ended up finishing in ninth, moving himself up into a tie for 10th in the drivers’ standings and giving Haas another one-point boost in the constructors’ battle. The team now trails RB by four points with six races to go, making it one of the more competitive matchups to watch in the final part of the season.
Colapinto Continues Impressive Start to Career
It’s difficult to stand out in F1 when you’re racing outside of the top of the pack or even outside the top 10, but Franco Colapinto has made quite an impression to start his career.
The new youngest driver on the grid after replacing Logan Sargeant, Colapinto had a number of moments Sunday that suggested he’s deserving of a permanent seat. The 21-year-old began the race with one of the more daring moves of the year, swinging his car up the inside from a 12th place starting position to overtake four cars on the opening turn.
Para los libros la LARGADA de Franco Colapinto por la parte interna. Impecable y sin incidentes. #F1 #SingaporeGP pic.twitter.com/tD3ifmrV7n
— Federico González (@federix12) September 22, 2024
After that move, which saw him overtake a far superior Red Bull, Colapinto wouldn’t yield. Pérez even admitted as much, saying on his radio that the Williams driver was “difficult” to pass and driving very well.
Though strategy didn’t play out in his favor, resulting in an 11th place finish, Colapinto has now stood out in back-to-back races. (He finished eighth in last week’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.) It’s not out of the question to say that he could be driving his way into the conversation for the final open seat on next year’s grid at Sauber. The sample size may be small, but it’s worth taking note of how Colapinto looks in the next few races.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Singapore Grand Prix Takeaways: Lando Norris Cruises to Statement Victory.
