Norris Dominates 2024 Singapore GP

McLaren’s Lando Norris cut his title deficit to Max Verstappen with a dominant 2024 Singapore Grand Prix.

Norris led from lights to flag unchallenged by Verstappen who settled for a distant second behind his title rival.

Oscar Piastri rounded out the podium after he completed a lengthy opening stint until Lap 38, followed by overtakes on Lewis Hamilton then George Russell which proved enough for third.

Russell fought off Leclerc to finish fourth whilst Hamilton settled for sixth ahead of Carlos Sainz, who was the last driver to finish on the lead lap as Fernando Alonso, Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez completed the top ten a lap down.

In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen’s title lead over Norris was trimmed down to 52 points with six rounds – including three sprint races – left this season.

At lights out, Norris made a clean start to stay out in front from Verstappen who fought off Hamilton, as the seven-time champion opted for a soft-tyre start to try and jump Verstappen to no avail.

Piastri lost fifth to Hulkenberg off the line but quickly repassed the German into Turn 7 to retake his position.

Leclerc meanwhile made up two positions to eighth ahead of Colapinto and Perez, but the Monegasque found himself stuck behind Alonso and Hulkenberg.

RB’s Daniel Ricciardo like Hamilton started on the soft tyre but was the first to pit on Lap 11, which forced Williams’ Alex Albon to pit a lap later to cover the Aussie off.

Albon’s race however ended on Lap 16 with cooling issues whilst Norris continued to dominate proceedings up front.

Hamilton meanwhile was forced to pit on Lap 18 due to having started on the soft-tyres unlike other frontrunners who opted for mediums, but he eventually found himself fourth once everyone pitted.

Up front, Verstappen found himself over 25 seconds behind Norris when he pitted on Lap 30, but Norris pitted on the next lap and kept his lead ahead of Piastri who hadn’t pitted.

Piastri eventually pitted on Lap 39 and re-joined fifth behind Russell and Hamilton – with Russell having undercut Hamilton on Lap 28 – and quickly cleared Hamilton on Lap 40 followed by Russell for third on Lap 45 into Turn 7.

Leclerc had pitted on Lap 37 after a lengthy opening stint which paid dividends despite Sainz’s undercut, as the pair swapped on Lap 42 before Leclerc then made his better tyre wear count to pass Hamilton for fifth on Lap 50.

Norris eventually cruised to his third F1 victory from Verstappen and Piastri, whilst Leclerc had to settle for fifth behind Russell.

Ricciardo though denied Norris the bonus point for fastest lap on the penultimate lap, which could be season-defining in the title race come end of season.

F1 next heads to Austin, Texas, USA, for USA Grand Prix from 18-20 October, which includes a sprint race.

Position	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	Lando Norris	McLaren	62	1h 40m 52.571
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	62	+ 20.945
3	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	62	+ 41.823
4	George Russell	Mercedes	62	+ 61.040
5	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	62	+ 62.430
6	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	62	+ 85.248
7	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	62	+ 96.039
8	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	61	+ 1 Lap
9	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	61	+ 1 Lap
10	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	61	+ 1 Lap
11	Franco Colapinto	Williams	61	+ 1 Lap
12	Yuki Tsunoda	RB	61	+ 1 Lap
13	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	61	+ 1 Lap
14	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	61	+ 1 Lap
15	Guanyu Zhou	Sauber	61	+ 1 Lap
16	Valtteri Bottas	Sauber	61	+ 1 Lap
17	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	61	+ 1 Lap
18	Daniel Ricciardo	RB	61	+ 1 Lap
RET	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	59	Damage
RET	Alex Albon	Williams	15	Cooling