Singapore (Commonwealth) _ Formula One championship contender Lando Norris led the Singapore Grand Prix from the start to the finish, narrowing the margin held by second-place finisher Max Verstappen.
For the third time in his career, the McLaren driver crossed the finish line first, having started from pole position on his sixth attempt. His McLaren colleague Oscar Piastri finished third, widening the constructors’ title lead between them and Red Bull.
It was an astoundingly incident-free race around the Marina Bay Street Circuit on Sunday, the first in the circuit’s fifteen-year history to take place without the need for a safety car.
With six races and three sprints remaining, Norris had reduced Verstappen’s championship lead to 52 points after 62 straight laps.
Due to Piastri’s third place finish and Sergio Perez’s only 10th place finish in the second Red Bull, McLaren now leads the constructors’ title by 41 points.
Lewis Hamilton, with softer tires, attempted to apply pressure to the Dutchman, but Norris skillfully avoided the pole and kept a safe distance behind Verstappen into the first corner.
However, the three-time world champion pushed back against the Englishman, and every car finished the first lap without incident. Before long, Norris had a lead over Verstappen of almost a second.
The only other leader to start on soft tires was Hamilton in third place, although he was penalized for it when he had to stop early on lap 18.
It was obvious that he wanted to finish the race, but after only five laps on the new rubber, he expressed his frustration over team radio, saying, “I’m already struggling with this tyre.”
By lap 26, Norris had increased his advantage over Verstappen to 20 seconds, demonstrating that he was unmatched in the front.
The Englishman won handily, despite a couple late collisions with the merciless Singapore street circuit walls. “It was an incredible race,” Norris remarked.
“A few too many near misses; I had a few near misses in the middle, but I believe it was handled effectively. “I could push; the entire race, we were flying.” I’m a little out of breath, but it’s still challenging.
Piastri started from fifth place, but in the closing stages, he was able to pass Hamilton and George Russell‘s second Mercedes thanks to a stronger strategy.
It wasn’t my finest afternoon yesterday, but it was a decent race and a strong comeback after qualifying, Piastri added. “Many thanks to the team; the car was really amazing this weekend and had some excellent points.”
A safety car appeared to be Verstappen’s only hope, but it never materialized.
The three-time world champion remarked, “My race was just by myself, do the best I could, manage my own race.” “P2 is a good achievement on a weekend we knew we were going to struggle.” However, we must now improve, and we will do so.
At the end, Hamilton was a sitting duck due to his significantly older tires than the rest of the field. On lap 50, he lost another position to Charles Leclerc‘s Ferrari, who had started from eighth on the grid. Leclerc came in first, ahead of Hamilton, with Carlos Sainz‘s second Ferrari coming in eighth.
Perez, Nico Hulkenberg, and Fernando Alonso completed the top 10.
The Marina Bay Street Circuit in Marina Bay, Singapore hosted the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix, also known as the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2024, on September 22, 2024. The 18th round of the Formula One World Championship for 2024 was taking place.
Lando Norris of McLaren topped an interrupted qualifying session to secure his sixth career pole position. He proceeded to lead every lap of the race, winning handily over Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and Norris’s teammate, Oscar Piastri.
There were three open practice sessions for the occasion. On September 20, 2024, at 17:30 local time (UTC+8), the inaugural free practice session took place. Leading the way were Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, followed by McLaren’s Lando Norris and Leclerc’s teammate, Carlos Sainz Jr.At 21:00 local time on the same day, Norris won the second free practice session, ahead of Leclerc and Sainz.
On September 21, 2024, at 17:30 local time, Norris won the third practice session, ahead of fellow Mercedes driver George Russell and Norris’s colleague Oscar Piastri.
