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Lando Norris wins his third Formula 1 race of the season, taking the Singapore Grand Prix twenty seconds ahead of Max Verstappen.
This reduces the gap in the Drivers’ Championship to 52 points, while Verstappen is still in the lead.
Norris was still leading at the end of lap 1 and he started to build a lead over Verstappen, taking over 11.5 seconds ahead by lap 17. But behind the leaders at the start it was a messy Turn 1 as numerous cars ran wide. Franco Colapinto worked his way into the top 10, a spot he held until he pitted on lap 30. Sergio Pérez struggled to pass him for a while.
“He is very good,” the Red Bull driver said over the radio on lap 16. “Hard to pass, Colapinto.”
During the early stages of the Singapore GP it became clear that the undercut looked strong. This is when a car makes a pit stop in front of the car in front to gain an advantage.
Lewis Hamilton was one of the first front runners to pit, swapping his soft tires for hard tires on lap 19. But he later said on the radio that he had a feeling they would have problems later, adding that he was already struggling with the hard tire by lap 23. The Singapore GP is traditionally a one-stop race unless the race is neutralized.
It looked like it would be a runaway for Norris, who was building a remarkable lead. But around lap 30 he radioed that he had front wing damage and was starting to slow down. However, when he pulled into the pits, McLaren made no changes to his front wing; he only adjusted the setup and exchanged the medium tires for the hard compound. Norris was later told on the radio that it was a “minor problem, but nothing serious.”
All eyes fell on Oscar Piastri as the race reached the middle stages. George Russell pitted on lap 29 and the McLaren driver lurked behind him. Piastri started to take time on Verstappen’s laps and was second when the Dutchman made a pit stop. But the McLaren driver felt his tires going off and on lap 39 he finally pitted for hard tyres. It was a late pit stop, a bold move by McLaren on a circuit where overtaking can be difficult. But he had remarkable band compensation.
Piastri emerged from the pits behind the Mercedes duo and wasted no time in passing Hamilton. Chasing Russell for the final podium spot, he managed to grab the overtaking maneuver on lap 45 at Turn 4 as he completed the long way around the Silver Arrow.
From there the race was determined. Norris narrowly missed the wall, the same spot where Russell crashed last year, but soon afterwards set a fastest lap, almost two seconds faster than Verstappen’s previous lap. Meanwhile, Pérez reported on the radio that he had no grip and was ‘bouncing like a kangaroo’.
Colapinto was close on his heels, putting Red Bull under pressure, but the Williams driver ultimately finished outside the points and could not avoid Pérez.
A twist at the end saw Daniel Ricciardo pit for a third time in the final few laps, swapping for a set of soft tyres. He flew and at that moment Norris drove the fastest lap of the race. Ricciardo took the fastest lap instead, ruining Norris’s chance at his first grand slam.
📻 GP: “Your old friend Daniel also achieved the fastest lap there at the end.”
📻Verstappen: “Thanks, Daniël.”#F1 #SingaporeGP
— Luke Smith (@LukeSmithF1) September 22, 2024
This is how the top 10 ended:
- Lando Norris
- Max Verstappen
- Oscar Piastri
- George Russell
- Charles Leclerc
- Lewis Hamilton
- Carlos Sainz
- Fernando Alonso
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Sergio Perez
Top photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images