Norris hails his 'mega' McLaren after dominant win at Singapore
Lando Norris hailed his "mega" McLaren after a dominant victory at the Singapore Grand Prix Sunday closed the Formula One championship gap on Max Verstappen, who came a distant second.
It was the McLaren driver's third career GP win and his first from pole position as he finished almost 30 seconds clear of his rival's Red Bull.
Norris admitted to a couple of scary brushes with the walls on the notoriously tight Marina Bay Street Circuit as his tyres faded in the closing laps.
"It was an amazing race," said Norris.
"A few too many close calls, I had a couple of close moments. You have a little bit less grip, a little bit less downforce," added the Englishman.
"Tyres are going away a little bit. It just caught me out.
"So it wasn't like a lack of concentration or anything. It was just a bit of a surprise to me."
But Norris avoided any damage and reduced the deficit to Verstappen to 52 points with six races and three sprints to go.
"I think the car was all good and the car has been mega all weekend. So a big thanks to the team," he added.
Teammate Oscar Piastri was third to extend McLaren's lead over Red Bull in the constructors' championship to 41 points.
It was a uniquely incident-free 62 laps around the Marina Bay Street Circuit under lights, the first in its 15-race history not to see a safety car deployed.
Norris got away brilliantly from pole and was clear of Verstappen into the first bend as Lewis Hamilton, on softer tyres, failed to get past the Dutchman.
Hamilton was the only front-runner to start on soft tyres and he paid a penalty when he had to pit early on lap 18 and then suffered on tyres much older than the cars around him in the final stint.
"It is hard to describe the range of emotions you feel when we have a difficult race like that," said Hamilton.
"Every decision we take with the right intentions and sometimes it doesn't work out. It can be frustrating."
- 'Not happy with second' -
Piastri started from fifth but a superior strategy enabled him to overhaul the struggling Hamilton and the second Mercedes of George Russell in the late stages.
"It was a good race, a good recovery from qualifying -- it wasn't my best afternoon yesterday," said Piastri.
Verstappen's only chance looked like a safety car or red flag that never came, which left him ploughing a lonely furrow for much of the race half a minute behind Norris.
"I was by myself. I tried to do the best I could and manage my own pace to the end," said Verstappen, who has never won in eight starts in Singapore where Red Bull always seem to struggle.
"The first stint was a bit difficult for us, quite a bit of tyre degradation," said the 26-year-old, who matched his previous best of second, way back in 2018.
"On a weekend we knew we were going to struggle, P2 is a good achievement. Of course we are not happy with second. Now we need to improve more and more and that's what we will try to do."
Hamilton lost another place on lap 50 to the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, who had begun from ninth on the grid.
Leclerc finished ahead of Hamilton, with the second Ferrari of Carlos Sainz in seventh. Fernando Alonso, Nico Hulkenberg and Perez rounded out the top 10.
Norris had the point for fastest lap snatched away from him at the end by the RB of Daniel Ricciardo in what is likely to be his last race in F1.
The Australian is rumoured to be leaving the Red Bull junior outfit after this race, but still played a part for his old teammate Verstappen.
"I have to be prepared for this maybe being it," admitted the Australian, who has won eight GPs in a 13-year career.
"Let's say I'm at peace with it."
F.Stewart--EWJ
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