#F1 #SingaporeGP Race Report: @LandoNorris cruises to dominant victory.

Norris Singapore GP Victory – Lando Norris cruised to a dominant third-career victory at the Singapore GP ahead of championship rival Max Verstappen as Oscar Piastri completed the top three.

 

 

The win sees Norris reduce the gap to Verstappen in the World Drivers’ Championship standings to 52 points as McLaren’s lead over Red Bull in the World Constructor’s Championship standings increased to 41 points.

 

When the 62-lap Singapore GP began, pole-sitter Norris got s solid getaway into the first corner as Hamilton almost jumped Verstappen, but the latter covered the Silver Arrow.

 

Behind them, there was some chaos with a few running wide and had to use the polystyrene arrow to go around at turn three.

 

At the beginning of lap two, Norris held a 0.700 second lead over Verstappen with Mercedes’ Sir Lewis Hamilton third, George Russell fourth, Piastri fifth, Haas’s Nico Hulkenberg sixth, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso seventh, Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc eighth, Williams’ Franco Colapinto ninth as Red Bull’s Sergio Perez rounded out the top ten runners.

 

Perez made his way into P1 on the opening tour, as Colapinto made his way into the points, whilst the latter’s team-mate Alexander Albon ran wide at the turn one and fell into 15^th place. Ricciardo remained in 16^th on the softer compounds.

 

Norris successfully lead the first tour from pole and was over 1.668 seconds clear of Verstappen and Russell also had DRS on his Mercedes’ team-mate Sir Lewis Hamilton who started on the C5 softer compounds like Ricciardo. The pairing dropped back from the top two runners.

 

On the fourth lap, Russell is quicker than Hamilton who does not look comfortable on the softer rubber as the former reported to his team, he is much quicker than his fellow British-compatriot, whilst Piastri is trying to close back up to Russell.

 

Lap five saw Norris 1.8 seconds clear of Verstappen with Hamilton third, Russell fourth, Piastri fifth, Hulkenberg sixth, Alonso seventh, Leclerc eighth, Colapinto ninth as Perez completed the top ten.

 

Replays showed on lap one, Russell push Piastri wide, which cost the Australian momentum and that’s how he fell behind Hulkenberg. Alonso and Sainz took avoiding action with Piastri as the McLaren driver struggled on the dirty side of the track, and they both ran wide.

 

Albon was overtaken by his team-mate Colapinto, which sent the Thai-Briton driver wide, and he found the dust, completely stalling and losing so much pace – falling into 15^th.

 

On the sixth lap, it looked like race leaders Norris and Verstappen were not managing their tyres at this stage of proceedings, Both Mercedes drivers and those behind are hoping the race will comeback to them. They were exchanging fastest laps as Hulkenberg got within DRS range on Piastri in the battle for fifth.

 

Leclerc reported on his radio on the seventh tour that he ran over some debris, but the team responded that his SF-24 entry was ok.

 

On lap ten, Norris’s gap was up to 4.221 seconds with Hamilton third, Russell fourth, Piastri fifth as Hulkenberg rounded out the top six.

 

Norris was told by his team that he needs a five-second gap over Verstappen by the mid-teens to try and remove the undercut window from Red Bull and to ensure when he re-emerges on track, the Briton will be in clear air.

 

Colapinto in ninth place was being pressured by Perez with the Argentine managing to cover the Red Bull driver well. Meanwhile Piastri was told “Plan B” for his strategy potentially being a longer stint for the Australian.

 

On the 11^th lap, Ricciardo was the first to pit and came out at the rear on his fresh set of the C4 mediums.

 

Albon then pitted a lap later to cover the RB and done so – coming out in 19^th place on a fresh set of the C3 harder tyres.

 

Norris’s lead was up to 7.807 seconds over Verstappen and continuing to lap much faster than the RB20 entry as Hamilton was continuing to fall-back behind the top two, his softer tyre run not expecting to run much longer.

 

Sainz pitted from 12^th on the 14^th tour for his fresh set of the C3 hards and emerged in-front of Albon in 18^th place.

 

In the battle for the lead, Verstappen can’t undercut Norris, as his gap grew to 10.129 seconds. Meanwhile behind them, Hamilton was making his softer rubber last, but he’s only 2.3 seconds ahead of his Mercedes’ team-mate Russell.

 

Further back, Albon was the first retirement of the Grand Prix parking it in the garage as the Thai-Briton reported his FW46 racer was overheating.

 

On the 18^th tour, Hamilton stopped from third for his fresh set of the C3 white side-walled hard tyre and came out in 13^th place behind Haas’s Kevin Magnussen.

 

Lap 20 saw Norris’s gap to Verstappen increased to 13.950 seconds with Russell a bit further back in third, Piastri fourth, Hulkenberg fifth, Alonso sixth, Leclerc seventh, Colapinto eighth, Perez ninth as Tsunoda completed the top ten runners.

 

A lap later, Hamilton overtook Magnussen as Sainz passed Stroll with the former reporting that he clipped the wall and asked his team to take a look.

 

On the 23^rd lap, Hamilton asked “did I stop before the others?” to which his race engineer Pete Bonnington responded yes, and he is on an alternate strategy – but the Briton thought they stopped too early.

 

Leclerc was holding seventh and cannot find his way ahead of Alonso and complained “how long do we have to remain like this?” as he was told by his team to “remain calm.”

 

On the 25^th tour Norris’s lead over Verstappen was up to 19.126 seconds, Russell was third, Piastri fourth, Hulkenberg fifth, Alonso sixth as Leclerc rounded out the top seven.

 

On the 26^th lap, Leclerc finally made his way ahead of Alonso as the Aston Martin driver pitted from sixth and the Spaniard came out in 15^th place behind Alpine’s Pierre Gasly as Hamilton complained again of his off-set strategy and that his tyres are falling off.

 

Hamilton then reported that something was wrong with his F1 W15 racer as replays showed he could not get his car turned at all after trying to overtake Tsunoda.

 

On the 28^th tour, Russell stopped from third for his fresh set of hards and came out in-front of his Mercedes’ team-mate Hamilton as Piastri was given the hurry up by his McLaren team.

 

Verstappen reported his tyres were starting to go and his race engineer Giampiero Lambiase replied “shouldn’t be too long”

 

Leclerc finally made his way ahead of Hulkenberg into fourth as Perez pitted from tenth for is fresh set of C3 hards and came out in 13^th place behind Gasly.

 

On the 30^th lap Verstappen made his stop for his fresh set of hards and came out just behind Leclerc in fourth place.

 

Verstappen had a look with DRS assistance down Raffles Boulevard, but Leclerc covered the Dutchman to remain in fourth.

 

Race leader Norris reported damage to his front wings after locking up and tapping the wall at turn 14.

 

Norris then stopped a lap later for his fresh set of hards and came out comfortably ahead of McLaren team-mate Piastri who is yet-to-stop.

 

Verstappen quickly cleared Leclerc to move up into third place as Hamilton was back up into sixth, behind Russell but ahead of Tsunoda who had not pitted yet.

 

Second-placed Piastri was beginning to lose time to Verstappen, who is on the fresher rubber. But he is gaining on Hamilton, whilst Russell called on his race engineer to give him encouragement.

 

Piastri was told they are going for “Plan C” – as the Australian’s front-right was giving up and was lapping almost two seconds slower than his team-mate.

 

On the 35^th tour Norris’s lead over team-mate Piastri was at 8.176 seconds with Verstappen third and 13.353 seconds adrift, Leclerc fourth and Russell close behind in fifth.

 

Russell was having a look at Leclerc as the latter covered the former who ran wide into turn 16.

 

Leclerc finally pitted for his fresh set of the C3 hards a lap later and emerged in eighth place behind Alonso.

 

Norris held an 11-second lead to team-mate Piastri with the latter having yet to stop. Verstappen was a net second.

 

On the 39^th tour Piastri stopped from second with a quick 2.2 second stop on his fresh set of hards and came out in fifth place behind Hamilton.

 

The 40^th lap saw race leader Norris’s gap to second-placed Verstappen at 23.130 seconds with Russell a distant third, Hamilton fourth, Piastri fifth.

 

The short fight for fourth, with DRS assistance, Piastri made a move on the outside of Hamilton at Raffles Boulevard to take the place from the Mercedes driver.

 

In the battle for third, Piastri was 3.331 seconds behind Russell whilst further behind, Leclerc overtook Alonso for seventh place.

 

Further back, Tsunoda was complaining about Ricciardo not letting him through then a tour later, the Australian obliged with the Japanese driver on 20 lap fresher softs.

 

Ferrari also implemented team orders as Sainz let Leclerc by to take sixth place.

 

On lap 45 in the battle for third, Piastri was even closer to Russell and with DRS assistance on Raffles Boulevard made a move on the outside into turn seven to take the final podium place.

 

Russell was warned by his team that there is a chance that Leclerc could catch him by the end if the Ferrari driver continued to keep that pace up.

 

With 14 laps remaining, Norris’s lead was at 25 seconds over Verstappen with Piastri a distant third, Russell fourth, Hamilton fifth, Leclerc sixth, Sainz seventh, Alonso eighth as Hulkenberg and Perez rounded out the top ten.

 

Norris suffered a scary moment as the race leader clipped the wall at turn 12 but luckily no damage.

 

William Joseph said the gap Norris had to second-placed Verstappen and to relax and take a drink.

 

Norris put his head down and posted the fastest lap.

 

Behind them on the 51^st lap, Leclerc made his way up into fifth place with DRS assistance and making the overtake on Hamilton just before the turn four left hander.

 

With ten laps left, Norris’s lead was at 28.741 seconds over Verstappen with Piastri third, Russell fourth as the Briton reported he tapped the wall, Leclerc fifth, Hamilton sixth as Sainz rounded out the top seven runners.

 

Third-placed Piastri was not making any more grounds in second-placed Verstappen’s gap and looked to be bringing his MCL38 home in one piece as his race leading team-mate Norris is told the same thing with his comfortable lead over the Dutchman.

 

On lap 57, Leclerc’s gap to Russell in the fight for fourth was at 1.769 seconds and found eight tenths a tour before as further behind them, Hulkenberg was forming a three-car train with Perez and Colapinto.

 

Norris was told by his team to “be careful” as he laps the three-car train of Colapinto, Perez and Hulkenberg.

 

Norris cleared Colapinto as the latter falls to three seconds behind Perez.

 

Lap 59, Leclerc was right in DRS range of Russell, but the latter covered the Ferrari.

 

On lap 60, Magnussen was told to retire the car as Ricciardo put on a set of softs to go for the fastest lap even though he is outside the top ten.

 

On the penultimate tour with DRS assistance, Leclerc was gaining on Russell, but the Mercedes driver kept the Monegasque driver at bay once again.

 

Russell once again covered the Ferrari again into turn 16 as the duo reached the line to start their final tour.

 

Norris reached the chequered flag to take victory at the Singapore GP by 20.945 seconds with Piastri settling for third and a further 20.878 seconds from the Dutchman.

 

Russell fended off the charging Ferrari of Leclerc to finish fourth as Hamilton took sixth ahead of Sainz.

 

Aston Martin’s Alonso was eighth as Haas’s Hulkenberg and Red Bull’s Perez completed the final points places.

 

Williams’ Colapinto finished outside the top ten in 11^th place and in-front of RB’s Tsunoda who placed 12^th and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon who came home 13^th.

 

Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll ended the Grand Prix 14^th and ahead of Sauber duo Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas who followed in 15^th and 16^th respectively.

 

Alpine’s Gasly and RB’s Ricciardo brought up the rear as the latter set the fastest lap of the race.

---

2024 Singapore GP – The Top Three

 

 

2024 Singapore GP Winner – Lando Norris, #4, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL38 – 25 Points:

“It was an amazing race. A few too many close calls, I had a couple of close moments in the middle, but it was well managed, I think. I could push, we were flying the whole race. Still tough, I’m a bit out of breath, but a good one. It’s not that you are over pushing, sometimes you are chilling too much – maybe it was a bit of both, but it was easy to lock the tyres, and I wanted the biggest lead possible. I wasn’t taking it easy.”

 

 

2^nd Place – Max Verstappen, #1, Oracle Red Bull Racing, Honda-RBPT, RB20 – 18 Points:

“My race was just by myself, do the best I could, manage my own race. On a weekend we knew we were going to struggle, P2 is a good achievement. But now we need to improve, and that’s what we’ll do. We just need to keep on trying and overturn it – not always finishing behind. I’m looking forward to a bit of rest.”

 

 

3^rd Place – Oscar Piastri, #81, McLaren Formula 1 Team-Mercedes, MCL38 – 15 Points:

“Warm! No, it was a good race, a good recovery from qualifying – it wasn’t my best afternoon yesterday. Big thank you to the team as clearly the car was exceptional this weekend, and some great points.”

---

Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2024 Race Results Classification (62 Laps)

Pos	No	Driver	Car	Laps	Time/retired	Pts
1	4	Lando Norris	McLaren Mercedes	62	1:40:52.571	25
2	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	62	+20.945s	18
3	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren Mercedes	62	+41.823s	15
4	63	George Russell	Mercedes	62	+61.040s	12
5	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	62	+62.430s	10
6	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	62	+85.248s	8
7	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	62	+96.039s	6
8	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	61	+1 lap	4
9	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas Ferrari	61	+1 lap	2
10	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT	61	+1 lap	1
11	43	Franco Colapinto	Williams Mercedes	61	+1 lap	0
12	22	Yuki Tsunoda	RB Honda RBPT	61	+1 lap	0
13	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine Renault	61	+1 lap	0
14	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin Aramco Mercedes	61	+1 lap	0
15	24	Zhou Guanyu	Kick Sauber Ferrari	61	+1 lap	0
16	77	Valtteri Bottas	Kick Sauber Ferrari	61	+1 lap	0
17	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine Renault	61	+1 lap	0
18	3	Daniel Ricciardo	RB Honda RBPT	61	+1 lap	0
19	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Ferrari	57	DNF	0
NC	23	Alexander Albon	Williams Mercedes	15	DNF	0
* Provisional results.

https://www.formula1.com/en/results/2024/races/1246/singapore/race-result

 

Click here for the 2024 Formula 1 World Driver’s (Top 10) and Constructor’s Championship Standings

 

Round 19 of the 2024 FIA Formula One World Championship returns to the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, United States of America for the Formula 1 Pirelli United States Grand Prix 2024 from Friday October 18-Sunday October 20.

---

#F1 #SingaporeGP Qualifying: @LandoNorris beats @Max33Verstappen to pole as @ScuderiaFerrari stumbles.

#F1 #SingaporeGP FP3: @LandoNorris quickest ahead of @GeorgeRussell63, @OscarPiastri.

#F1 #SingaporeGP FP2: @LandoNorris quickest ahead of @ScuderiaFerrari duo.

#F1 #SingaporeGP FP1: @CharlesLeclerc pips @LandoNorris by 0.076s.

#F1 Singapore Airlines #SingaporeGP 2024 Preview