Lando Norris reflects McLaren’s superiority in Singapore but Max Verstappen holds on for another race with extra help

Lando Norris has been having a good time in SingaporeThe British driver has swept Marina Bay as he did at Zandvoort, proving that this McLaren, at least in his hands, has a significant superiority on twisty circuits. But even then, Norris has no way of getting rid of Verstappen.

And the Dutchman was the best of the rest, salvaging a miraculous second position if we take into account the suffering of his teammate, Sergio Pérez. Of course, Red Bull has once again tarnished everything with a dirty strategy on the last lap, which reflects one of the great scourges that Formula 1 has been plagued with for decades.

Red Bull called on Ricciardo, from its subsidiary team, to take the fastest lap from Norris

On twisty circuits McLaren has no rival. Or at least Lando Norris. Because the British driver this time did maintain the first position at the start and from then on he dominated the race at will, despite giving in a couple of taps against the walls that have hearts racing in the McLaren garage.

Norris would have made his first Grand Prix if Red Bull had not pulled out all their dirty tricks to prevent it. Norris had the fastest lap with its corresponding extra point, but Red Bull has ordered Daniel Ricciardo of its subsidiary team to stopto mount new tires and remove it.

The indecency of having a Formula 1 team racing with four cars was once suffered by Fernando Alonso and now it seems that Norris will suffer it. And there was no reason for panic at Red Bull, since Max Verstappen, the only valuable asset they still have in the teamhas performed a miracle by sneaking into second place.

What is clear is that the constructors’ world championship is not going to have much history, because Oscar Piastri has climbed back to third position from the podium by extending his pit stop and then overtaking the Mercedes on the track. McLaren is far behind Red Bull, as Sergio Pérez could only manage tenth.

The Mexican was in the middle of the pack, always in traffic and stuck behind Nico Hülkenberg in the final laps. The Ferraris were more skillful in getting out of that bad position: Carlos Sainz made a massive undercut which brought him to seventh place while Charles Leclerc was fifth after extending his stop.

NORRIS IS A MILLIMETERS AWAY FROM FINNING UP AGAINST THE WALL!

He saved him by a miracle #SingaporeDAZNF1 pic.twitter.com/kIAE4Vgefc

— DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) September 22, 2024

Mercedes’ incomprehensible strategy with Lewis HamiltonHe started on soft tyres, which did not help him gain a single position at the start, but also forced him to go very slowly at the start and stop in the pits too early. In the end Hamilton, who started third, finished sixth, behind George Russell, fourth.

And Fernando Alonso’s situation is starting to feel supernatural. With an Aston Martin that seemed very weakened in Singapore, he has worked another miracle, scoring some very good points. Specifically, Alonso finished eighththe best of the rest again and doing an overcut on Hülkenberg that has been a complete success.

This time Franco Colapinto is left without points, eleventh, after making a great start. By the way, for the first time Singapore Grand Prix ends without safety carThere were only a couple of minor scares with Alexander Albon’s breakdown and Kevin Magnussen’s puncture, but nothing major hassle.

Formula 1 GP Singapore 2024 race results

Formula 1 general classification

1st. Max VERSTAPPEN (Red Bull-HOL), 331 points

2nd. Lando NORRIS (McLaren-GBR), 279 points

3rd. Charles LECLERC (Ferrari-MON), 245 points

4th. Oscar PIASTRI (McLaren-AUS), 237 points

5º. Carlos SAINZ (Ferrari-ESP), 190 points