‘A lucky b*****d,’ half-smiled Christian Horner wryly as Lando Norris took a commanding win in Singapore. Norris had a flick of luck, yes, but not only for the reason the Red Bull boss wished to convey.
Horner was referring to the two brushes with the barriers that Norris survived in trimming Max Verstappen’s world championship advantage to 52 points with 180 remaining. But he might have been citing the dominant McLaren that should carry Norris to the title this year.
The maths of the day does not support the notion that the Briton is in such an enviably strong position. He only took seven points off Verstappen, who finished second, before – again – raising the question of how long he wants to remain in Formula One if he continues to be mired in its politics, such as being handed F1’s equivalent of community service for swearing in a press conference, as he was on Friday.
But he is going nowhere for now. And coming runner-up in every one of the year’s outstanding seven races and three sprints is enough to claim a fourth title come what may.
Lando Norris won the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix ahead of championship rival Max Verstappen
Norris finished a huge 20.9 seconds in front of the three-time world champion Verstappen
Verstappen’s lead in the Driver’s Championship has now been trimmed from 59 to 52 points
Yet the facts are that Norris took pole by more than two-tenths and proceeded to lead every one of the 62 under lights. He operated in a race of his own. His margin of victory was 20.9sec. It could have been a lot more. Still, he lapped all but the top seven finishers.
His car is as superior over the rest as Verstappen’s Red Bull was at the start of the season. Lucky, lucky, lucky Lando, then.
His nerve-rattling grazes apart, this statement-of-intent victory should have shaken up the groupthink among motor racing’s cognoscenti that has Verstappen definitely clinging on. He might well do; he remains marginal favourite by dint of points on the board, as well as his resilience and brilliance, both of which traits were amply on show here. If you doubt it, consider his team-mate Sergio Perez, who was among those lapped, finishing 10th.
Verstappen has failed to claim victory in his last eight races – with his last first place finish coming in June at the Spanish GP
This was Norris’ (second from right) third victory this season, with the British driver having already won the Miami Grand Prix and the Dutch Grand Prix
This brings us to how the title may yet be decided. If McLaren maintain their authority, it will come down to who can impose themselves between 26-year-old Verstappen and 24-year-old Norris.
Will it be Oscar Piastri, Norris’s team-mate? He finished third, having won last week. Will Perez intervene favourably for Verstappen? And what about the Ferraris inserting themselves, something they did not manage yesterday after a poor day’s qualifying?
There is also the question of Norris’s mettle in the crucible.
He seemed more relaxed this past weekend; the recent tetchiness of pressure having abated. A buccaneering performance in Azerbaijan from 15th on the grid a week before seemingly having lifted his morale, which can be fragile behind a chirpy exterior.
Norris nearly killed his own race as he had two close calls with the wall before radioing his concerns in to his team
Norris also seemed more relaxed this past weekend; the recent tetchiness of pressure having abated
Whatever thoughts were permeating his crash helmet, his head was clear enough to allow him to do something he has never done before, namely finish a first lap he has started on pole still in the lead. Five times he has tried. Five times he has failed.
On Sunday, though, a fillip. He showed great alacrity off the grid. Everyone else was sucking up his fumes by the first corner, a short sprint from the line. Who knows how much that will boost his psychological state.
He was soon into his stride. He was told, on lap eight, to open up a lead of five seconds by about lap 15. That was the margin he needed to remain in front if Verstappen, starting as well as finishing a place back, were to undercut him.
No problems. Norris, with plenty of poke under his bonnet, achieved the required gap by the end of lap 11. He was a second-a-lap quicker, and merely cantering.
By lap 25, Norris’s lead stood at 20sec. Again, cantering.
Norris is now within striking distance to the current world champion and it is all to play for heading into the final six Grand Prix races
Verstappen came into the pits after 29 laps. It was a slightly slow stop, at 3.0sec, by the usually adroit Red Bull pit crew.
It was now that Norris grazed the wall for the first time, at Turn 14, having taken too much speed into the right-hander. He radioed his concerns that there may be damage to his front wing. There was a bruise but nothing serious, he was told.
Only his own wandering concentration in sweaty 30ºC heat – or the demands of pushing lap after lap in isolation, as he claimed afterwards – could defeat him, and on lap 45 he again scratched his papaya car. On this occasion the rear right tyres kissed the wall.
‘Once is usually a wake-up call,’ elaborated Horner in his treatise on luck. ‘To hit it twice and be OK, somebody is smiling on you.’
‘Full concentration now,’ implored race engineer Will Joseph. ‘Take a drink.’ Norris does not usually sip water as he drives.
Lewis Hamilton started second but finished sixth and was leapfrogged by his Mercedes team-mate George Russell (fourth) and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (fifth)
Jospeh later said: ‘Just chill out. Just bring this car home.’
He did. ‘Lovely jubbly,’ exclaimed Norris. ‘Amazing car all weekend. Thank you everyone. One of many more. Let’s keep pushing.’
Verstappen, from his perspective, at least managed to limit the damage, also stranded in a race of his own, with Piastri nowhere near him.
A final twist of intrigue. Daniel Ricciardo, in what may be his final Formula One race before being replaced by New Zealander Liam Lawson, deprived Norris of the fastest-lap bonus point at the eleventh hour. This raised eyebrows because he drives for Red Bull’s sister team, RB.
‘Thank you, Daniel,’ said Verstappen, for every point counts now.