McLaren’s Lando Norris was untouchable in the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix, romping unopposed in a lights to-flag-victory at Marina Bay.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was a distant second, 20 seconds behind Norris with Oscar Piastri completing a McLaren one-three.
The two title rivals Norris and Verstappen lined up alongside one another after the former stormed to pole position on Saturday.
Verstappen and Red Bull feared the worst coming into the Singapore GP – the team’s bogey track amid a dominant 2023 season.
With the 2024 campaign proving difficult for the reigning champions, Verstappen did well to put his Red Bull on the front row and in contention.
The self-assessed poor qualifier Lewis Hamilton lined up in third, sharing the second row with Mercedes team-mate George Russell.
Three miles, four DRS zones and 62 laps under the cover of darkness in sweltering humid Singapore heat awaited the grid.
The top 13 all started on Medium Pirelli tyres, except for Hamilton, poised in third on Softs.
Kevin Magnussen started on Hards in 14th with Lance Stroll (17th), Valtteri Bottas (19th) and Zhou Guanyu (20th) following suit.
Daniel Ricciardo, who started a disappointing 16th, elected to open his account on Softs.
READ MORE: McLaren’s Lando Norris storms to F1 Singapore GP pole
Norris leads at lights out
Lights out and Norris, plagued by poor starts whenever he’s on pole, held his nerve to take the holeshot.
Verstappen and Hamilton went wheel-to-wheel into Turn 1 with the Dutchman holding firm.
Piastri lost out to Nico Hulkenberg at the start but recovered well to retain fifth on Lap 1 just a few corners later.
Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez both made progress on the opening tour of the Marina Bay Circuit, progressing to eighth and 10th respectively as Carlos Sainz dropped down to 12th, taking to the Turn 1 run-off with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso just ahead of him.
Alex Albon also had a poor start in his Williams, slipping to 15th as his team-mate Franco Colapinto worked his way into ninth.
Replays showed a Lap 1, Turn 1 divebomb on his team-mate granted Colapinto the advantage, and caused an angered Albon to slip back.
By Lap 3, Norris broke DRS over Verstappen, looking to force an early advantage as Hamilton fought to keep his rival in check.
Russell, dissatisfied with the leaders pulling away, called to his Race Engineer to prompt more speed from Hamilton ahead of him.
Out in front, the gap between Norris and Verstappen hovered just below two seconds by Lap 7 with the pair trading fastest laps.
Mercedes held station in third and fourth, more than five seconds off of the lead.
Ferrari, confident with the race pace it could potentially deploy desperately needed Leclerc to progress beyond Alonso running in seventh as the first round of stops loomed near.
Overtaking at a premium around Marina Bay
Despite there being an extra DRS zone at Marina Bay, the order remained unchanged in the opening exchanges, with overtaking at a premium.
By Lap 9, with a 2.8s lead in his pocket, Norris was instructed to pull out a five-second gap to Verstappen “by the mid-teens.”
Such was the pace of the McLaren, Norris immediately put half a second into the Red Bull in half a lap.
By Lap 10, the gap was at four seconds with Norris looking in fine form.
Ricciardo was the first to pit, ditching his Softs on Lap 11 to bolt on Mediums, slipping to the back of the field, albeit in clear air.
Albon, running a place ahead of Ricciardo prior to the stops, sought to cover off the Australian a lap later with a switch to Hards, doing so successfully.
Norris delivered a five-second gap and more by Lap 13, leading by 7.7s over Verstappen and running faster than anyone else could even think of.
Sainz, stuck in 12th, came into pit on Lap 14, switching onto Hard tyres and emerging just ahead of Albon, proving that the undercut strategy employed by Williams was powerful.
Norris was informed of just that – with McLaren seeking to protect its advantage from anyone undercutting from behind.
A 9.6s gap by Lap 15 no doubt would give Norris and McLaren some comfort however with the Briton excelling in the opening stint.
Hamilton was a further 6.5s down the road with Russell and Piastri right behind him.
Hulkenberg, running an impressive sixth led a small train of cars too with Alonso and Leclerc right on his tail.
Colapinto was also doing a fine job of holding position, with Perez calling on Team Radio that the Argentine was proving “difficult to pass.”
Alex Albon retires early on in Singapore GP
Meanwhile, Albon was stuck touring at the very back of the field, with an apparent issue causing him to drop off of the pack.
The issue was such that Albon had to retire to the pits on Lap 17 with overheating the primary issue.
Hamilton was the first of the front runners to pit, shedding his Softs for Hards on Lap 18 – coming out between Kevin Magnussen and Pierre Gasly in 13th.
Two laps later, Hamilton progressed past Magnussen to find himself some room out on track.
Despite having clear air to play with after Hamilton released him into third, Russell couldn’t shake Piastri behind him.
By Lap 21, Norris had moved himself into an even stronger position with a 15-second lead and enough margin to pit and emerge in fourth should he elect to do so.
McLaren told Norris to go as long as possible, asking him to conserve his tyre as they looked to pit after Verstappen.
Sainz meanwhile was continuing his steady charge back up the order after his stop on Lap 22, clearing Lance Stroll for 15th having already dispatched both Saubers.
Hamilton, passing Esteban Ocon for 11th at turn 7 on Lap 23 had his concerns, worried he’d stopped too early and fearing the end of his race would suffer as a result.
He wasn’t the only driver with concerns with Leclerc exclaiming “this is so frustrating” as he continued to tour behind Hulkenberg and Alonso with little chance of progress.
The Monegasque driver finally made progress on Lap 26, passing Alonso at Turn 16 with the Spaniard electing to pit moments later, coming out ahead of team-mate Stroll in 15th.
“[The] rear tyres are quite bad now,” Verstappen told Gianpiero Lambiasse on Lap 27, with Norris leading by 22.5s.
Russell came in on Lap 28, freeing up Piastri and coming out in eighth, a few seconds ahead of team-mate Hamilton.
Leclerc’s strife stuck behind cars came to an apparent end on Lap 29 as he finally picked off Hulkenberg as Perez took his stop to put on the Hard tyres.
A scary moment for Lando Norris
“Front wing damage maybe,” said Norris over Team radio on Lap 30, with a handy lead still in hand as Verstappen chose to make his stop.
Replays later showed the McLaren man locking up and narrowly escaping a shunt into the barriers at Turn 14.
The Dutchman came out in fourth with Leclerc sweeping in front of him at the pit-lane exit, however, Verstappen wasn’t stuck behind the Ferrari for long.
Lap 30 saw several more drivers pit, Hulkenberg, Colapinto and Ocon.
Norris pit from the lead a lap later, with the front wing damage small enough not to warrant a change or even be observed.
It was a well-executed stop with Norris coming out over two seconds ahead of Piastri to retain the lead.
Piastri still toured without stopping at Lap 35 with McLaren “tempted” to keep him out, leaving Piastri with the potential task of passing Hamilton on track.
“Not sure that’s a great idea,” the Australian said.
After a lengthy opening sting of 37 laps, Leclerc pitted, freeing up Russell, who had been harassing the Ferrari for several laps.
Leclerc emerged in eighth, a fraction ahead of Hulkenberg but five seconds back from Alonso, albeit with a healthy tyre offset.
Piastri eventually came in on Lap 39 and the McLaren pit crew worked hard to get him going again in 2.2s.
The Australian emerged in fifth, 1.1s behind the Mercedes duo but like Leclerc, enjoying a healthy tyre offset over those ahead.
Into the final Singapore GP stint
With all the stops seemingly completed, Norris led by 23s over Verstappen on Lap 40.
Russell was 15s further back in third as Piastri made light work in dispatching Hamilton for fourth.
Meanwhile, Leclerc moved up to seventh over Alonso with an inside move at Turn 14.
Leclerc was then granted sixth over Sainz on Lap 43 via team orders.
That move caused concern for Mercedes with the Brackley-based team reasoning Leclerc could catch Russell by the end of the race.
The Mercedes cause wasn’t helped when Piastri forced himself around the outside of Russell at Turn 7 on Lap 46, tasked with charging after Verstappen.
Piastri would need to push with an 18s deficit to overcome to Verstappen.
Norris was also pushing, surviving another brush with the barriers on Lap 48.
“Full concentration now, take a drink,” Norris’ engineer told him in response to the nervy incident.
By Lap 51, Leclerc progressed to fifth at Hamilton’s expense and Russell next on his hit list.
“I’ve got understeer and I’ve got oversteer,” Russell complained, giving him a tricky Mercedes car to contend with as Leclerc charged behind.
Lando Norris cuts championship deficit with Singapore GP victory
With four laps remaining, Leclerc was right on Russell’s tail, chasing fourth on his recovery drive.
It wasn’t close out front however as Norris romped home to take the chequered flag for the third time in 2024.
The McLaren driver finished 20s ahead of Verstappen, cutting the deficit in the World Championship Drivers’ standings to 52 points.
Piastri came home third with Russell holding onto fourth over Leclerc.
That left Hamilton as the Mercedes filling in a Ferrari sandwich, finishing sixth and ahead of seventh-placed Sainz.
Alonso took a fine eighth for Aston Martin as Hulkenberg held onto a couple of points in ninth.
That left Perez to round out the top-10 after a frustrating afternoon for the Mexican.
A fastest lap right at the end for RB’s Daniel Ricciardo stole a point away from Norris.
READ MORE: F1 2024 Singapore Grand Prix – Race Results
