Formula 1: “Mega”: Norris leaves Verstappen no chance in Singapore

Under the fireworks in Singapore, the sweaty Lando Norris was given a cold shower by interviewer David Coulthard and once again put leader Max Verstappen in the shade in his pursuit of the World Championship. Despite a brief moment of shock when he hit the wall on the Marina Bay Street Circuit, the English McLaren driver celebrated a confident start-to-finish victory ahead of the former Red Bull dominator from the Netherlands.

“It was a great race. A few times it was too close in the middle of the race, but otherwise I had everything under control, the car was great,” Norris reported during his interview with former Formula 1 driver Coulthard, somewhat “out of breath” after pop star Kylie Minogue had waved the black and white checkered flag.

Norris had a lead of 20.9 seconds over Verstappen at the end of a floodlit chase that extended the Dutchman’s painful losing streak in Formula 1. Thanks to his third career victory, the Briton, who was finally able to defend his pole position, is 52 points behind Verstappen with six Grand Prix to go before the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

But the stubborn Red Bull was once again successful in limiting the damage, not least because Daniel Ricciardo from sister team Racing Bulls Norris stole the point for the fastest lap. “Thank you, Daniel,” said Verstappen. “I did my best, tried to go at my own pace. On a weekend where we knew we would be fighting, second place is a good result.”

Only 178 meters to turn one

The three-time world champion has been waiting for a win for eight races now – he has never won the hot, humid night Grand Prix in the city state. Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri finished third. Nico Hülkenberg, who surprisingly started from sixth position in the Haas, was still able to score points by finishing ninth.

178 meters to the first braking point on the sparkling street circuit is very short. But it can be a nerve-wracking stretch. The burning question before the red lights went out was: Will Norris mess up his start again? Not this time! The Englishman was able to defend his lead beyond the first lap for the first time in his sixth pole position and keep Verstappen at bay.

“Hopefully we can make it difficult for McLaren. It will be an exciting first round,” said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner before the start in Southeast Asia. But Norris took the edge off the start. Record world champion Lewis Hamilton, who with 350 Grand Prix starts is number two in the all-time list behind Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso, in third place and especially Hülkenberg in sixth place also defended their positions.

Rosberg’s praise for Red Bull

But the focus is of course on Norris and Verstappen. The world champion from the Netherlands initially had to contend with more than just a company car that had little grip on the asphalt during the Singapore weekend. However, the Red Bull crew was able to brilliantly resolve these problems before qualifying.

“Max appeared out of nowhere,” said TV expert and 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg, praising the short-term turnaround at Red Bull. “They completely turned the car around, stiffened it up a lot and brought it back to life.”

Verstappen finds his F-word penalty “ridiculous”

Verstappen also got in trouble with the top rule enforcers. For using the F-word in the official press conference on Thursday, he was punished with community service. Verstappen’s reply? In the official press conference after the race for starting positions on Saturday, the 26-year-old clearly only replied in protest. He then described his punishment by the race stewards as “ridiculous”.

Norris was in a great mood at the front. In the fastest car in the field, he dictated the pace and increased his lead over Verstappen second by second. Hamilton, who had started with the softest tires, unlike the other top drivers, was worried that his tires would not last long enough after his early pit stop on the hard compounds.

Norris touches the wall

Norris had a moment of shock halfway through 62 laps. He braked too late and lightly touched the wall with his left front in turn 14. But it wasn’t that bad, as his lead over Verstappen was so large. “We see a small problem with the front wing, but nothing serious,” the pit radioed to Norris. He went into the garage for fresh, hard tires and returned to the track as the leader.

At this point, Verstappen was a full 20.6 seconds behind the leader, who ultimately no longer had to take full risks and was able to cross the finish line relatively relaxed.