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Tyres NorthamptonAlthough two mid-race mishaps could've ended his Sunday drive, Norris crossed the line 21 seconds ahead of Verstappen as F1 heads into another three-week break.
Singapore usually sees a gruelling race where lapses in concentration have disastrous consequences. 2024's event was a very different story, and there were no smashes or crashes to trigger a Safety Car appearance for the first time in the Grand Prix's history. Strategists and drivers instead had to rely on the standard pit stop undercuts, overcuts, and raw pace to find an advantage over those around them. It wasn't as spectacular as many races from this season, but it could be the race that helps Verstappen retain his title.
The reigning champion joined Norris on the front row after a surprise P2 in qualifying. Red Bull entered the weekend thinking they'd struggle to reach Saturday's top-10 shootout. While Sergio Perez made good on those low expectations with a P13 grid slot, Verstappen extracted everything from his car to start high. A poor getaway from the Dutchman at lights out almost lost a position to Lewis Hamilton at Turn 1, but he survived the Briton's attack to retain his place.
Hamilton had started the race on the Pirelli soft tyre, one of just two drivers to opt for the red-ringed rubber. The extra grip helped his launch but didn't gain the seven-time champion a position, and left him vulnerable instead. While Norris and Verstappen extended their gap to each other and the field, Hamilton had teammate George Russell on his tail as his tyre life slowly faded. Russell had radioed his team to ask to swap positions but had to remain behind Hamilton until Lap 17 when Hamilton pitted.
While one McLaren had a successful start, the other struggled. Oscar Piastri, last week's winner, had lost a position to Nico Hulkenberg in the opening corners to drop to P6. Norris is usually the McLaren man to fall back on the opening lap, but Piastri had to survive the mid-pack madness of the first chicane. However, Hulkenberg's advantage didn't last long, and Piastri began what became a podium-clinching fightback into Turn 7.
Even though Norris wasn't driving around Haas cars or behind a pair of Mercedes like his teammate, he was the McLaren that almost crashed out. An unforced error into Connaught at Turn 14 saw Norris lock his front-right brake and understeer towards the barrier. He somehow had avoided breaking anything on his car, though the team reported negligible damage to his front wing. Norris pitted in the following laps, but McLaren neglected to replace his front wing and sent their driver back on track to complete the remaining half of the race on Pirelli's hard compound.
The pit stop period injected some much-needed wheel-to-wheel action into the race. Drivers began undercutting each other to emerge behind other, slower cars. Verstappen, for example, was racing Charles Leclerc on pit exit and lost out to the Ferrari driver to necessitate an on-track overtake to retake the place. Like Piastri, Leclerc was on a recovery drive after a disappointing qualifying and used the clean air during a lengthy first tyre stint to gain time on the frontrunners. The pair would be the ones to gain the most screentime in the race's final act.
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Fresher Pirelli tyres helped Piastri to close in on the Mercedes duo he emerged behind after stopping. A brave move on the outside of Turn 7 helped him overtake Hamilton, and he doubled up that pass on Russell five laps later to book another podium trip. Leclerc had more work than the Australian but used DRS to overtake Fernando Alonso into Turn 14 and slipped past Hamilton at Turn 7. He'd close in on Russell by the end of the race, but the tyre advantage was gone, so he settled for a hard-fought P5 from a P9 start.
Although the Mercedes and Ferrari cars featured more, the day was McLaren and Red Bull's. Norris, who survived another clip of the wall in the closing stages, brought his car home to add 25 points to his championship tally. Teammate Piastri ensured there'd be two McLarens on the rostrum, too. Yet Verstappen was arguably the one with the best result, losing only seven points to Norris at the only race on the current calendar he hasn't won.
It's a 52-point gap between Verstappen and Norris in the title fight, with six rounds and three sprint races remaining. Daniel Ricciardo stole the Fastest Lap point from Norris in what might be the Australian's last F1 race, and every point will count by the season finale. F1 will return with a triple-header across the Americas starting in Austin on October 20th for the 2024 US Grand Prix.