F1 Singapore Grand Prix: Lando Norris beats Max Verstappen at ...
Lando Norris has continued McLaren's Formula 1 charge, winning the Singapore Grand Prix and narrowing his deficit to Max Verstappen in the drivers' championship.
The Briton was a class above the rest under the lights around the Singapore street circuit, with Verstappen claiming a distant second and Australian Oscar Piastri placing third.
Norris took seven points out of Verstappen's championship lead which stands at 52 points with six rounds to go.
Despite claiming a dominant win, Norris had two brushes with barriers that threatened to end his race early.
"A few too many close calls, I had a couple of close moments in the middle but it was well managed I think," Norris said.
"I could push, we were flying the whole race."
The start of races has been an Achilles heel for Norris this season but he produced his best for Singapore, comfortably leading into the first corner ahead of Verstappen.
Lando Norris led from start to claim the Singapore Grand Prix. (Reuters: Edgar Su)
The Brit settled into a nice rhythm in the early stages holding a gap of around 2 to 2.5 seconds.
He was asked by his team to put the foot down on lap eight of 62 and the McLaren driver obliged, stretching his advantage over Verstappen to six seconds by lap 12.
By lap 15 Norris was off in the distance nine seconds ahead of Verstappen, who in turn held a six-second advantage over Lewis Hamilton in third.
With a commanding lead of 25 seconds, Norris had a scary moment when he locked his wheels and clipped the barrier, but he was able to slow the car down enough for it not to be critical.
Verstappen fired into the pits on lap 30 after Norris's moment, with the Brit suffering minor front wing damage.
Norris came in a lap later, with his team reassuring him that his front wing was fine to continue.
Lando again had another moment on lap 45, brushing the wall for his second lucky escape.
But he was able to keep his composure and beat Verstappen by 21 seconds.
Behind them, Piastri produced a brilliant drive to claim third place.
Starting fifth, the Australian dropped to sixth at the end of the first lap but quickly regained that spot with an overtake on the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg.
The Australian saved his tyres in the first stint and pitted well after his rivals in front.
Once pitted, he set about chasing down the Mercedes drivers and moving into third.
Piastri produced two clean overtakes around the outside of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to claim his eighth top-three finish this season.
Daniel Ricciardo, in what has been speculated as his last race for RB, finished 18th.
Rumours have been swirling around the paddock that the Australian will be axed for the remaining six weekends of the season after a string of weak results.
Ricciardo did finish with the fastest lap of the race, denying Norris an extra point for that accolade which the Brit held until the final lap.
