Singapore Grand Prix: Norris – Verstappen – Piastri

Dark. Dry. Air +31С, highway +37…35С

Normally, Singapore talks more about what happens off the track, about the beauty and unusualness of the place, but in 2024, all the attention was on the race. Other factors were off. Even the usual heat had subsided, and any precipitation that had previously caused intrigue was of no interest to her.

McLaren arrived in Singapore as leaders of the Constructors’ Championship and hoped to consolidate their success in the Individual Championship; this has not happened for a long time – every stage of the seven remaining stages could play a major role in the battle for the title.

Lando Norris led Friday and Saturday morning and confidently won qualifying to take his fifth pole position of the season. The front row of the grid was shared by Norris and Verstappen, with Mercedes drivers Hamilton and Russell starting the race from second, Piastri from third and Hulkenberg of Haas who set an excellent time.

In an attempt to improve overtaking opportunities, the FIA ​​added a fourth DRS zone, but drivers were sceptical.

Pirelli brought the softest compounds to the podium: C3, C4 and C5 in Hard, Medium and Soft roles. In the race, Hamilton and Ricciardo started on Soft, Magnussen, Stroll, Bottas and Zhou started on Hard, the rest opted for Medium.

Before the start, right on the grid, Aston Martin mechanics dismantled Stroll’s car to replace the brakes – Lance complained of vibrations after leaving the pits, but they managed to do everything in time.

At the start Norris kept the lead. Hülkenberg got ahead of Piastri, but Oscar regained the position. Leclerc, Alonso and Albon went off the track, Alex lost four positions. Tsunoda lost three positions, Colapinto regained three.

Top Ten in Round 2: Norris – Verstappen – Hamilton – Russell – Piastri – Hulkenberg – Alonso – Leclerc – Colapinto – Perez.

On lap 6, Zhou passed Bottas for 19th place.

On the 11th lap Ricciardo changed tires, on the 12th – Albon, on the 13th – Sainz.

On lap 16, Albon stopped the car in the pits and retired due to overheating of the power plant.

On lap 18 Sainz passed Bottas for 17th place. Hamilton changed his tires.

Due to tyre wear, Verstappen’s car gradually lost speed; by lap 20 he was almost fifteen seconds behind the leading Norris, but still ahead of the Mercedes.

On lap 20 Sainz passed Zhou for 16th place and Hamilton passed Magnussen for 12th place in the new DRS zone added this year.

On lap 22 Sainz passed Stroll to move up to 15th place.

On lap 23, Hamilton overtook Ocon and moved up to 11th place.

On lap 26, Leclerc overtook Alonso in the battle for 6th position – and Fernando went into the pits to change tires. Hamilton got ahead of Tsunoda but went off track and Yuki regained the position.

On lap 27 Sainz overtook Magnussen for 12th position. Stroll made a pit stop.

On lap 28 Russell changed tires. Hamilton beat Tsunoda.

On lap 29, Alonso overtook Magnussen and Leclerc overtook Hulkenberg. Perez and Magnussen swapped tyres.

On lap 30, Norris flew off the track, nearly hitting the barrier and losing two seconds – and Verstappen went for new tires. Hulkenberg, Colapinto, Ocon and Norris also changed tires. Lando returned to the track and maintained his lead in the race.

Gasly lost two positions to Perez and Colapinto.

On lap 34, Tsunoda and Bottas pitted, on lap 35 – Zhou.

Russell tried to attack Leclerc at Turn 16 but went off track and was left behind.

On lap 37, Leclerc changed tires.

On lap 38, Tsunoda overtook Gasly, who had not pitted, in the battle for 13th place.

On lap 39, Gasly and Piastri were the last in the peloton to change their starting tyres.

Top Ten in Round 40: Norris – Verstappen – Russell – Hamilton – Piastri – Sainz – Alonso – Leclerc – Hulkenberg – Perez.

On lap 40 Piastri overtook Hamilton and moved up to fourth place.

On lap 41, Leclerc overtook Alonso for seventh place.

On lap 42, Ricciardo, on orders from the pits, let Tsunoda, who was on softer tyres, pass. Sainz also let Leclerc pass on the engineer’s orders – Charles had fresher tyres.

On lap 45 Piastri overtook Russell for third place.

Top Ten in Round 45: Norris – Verstappen – Piastri – Russell – Hamilton – Leclerc – Sainz – Alonso – Hulkenberg – Perez.

Ricciardo lost two positions, causing Ocon and Magnussen to pass on worn tyres.

On lap 48 Norris hit the barrier with his right front wheel without any consequences for the car. Ricciardo changed the tires.

On lap 50, Magnussen pitted with a punctured left rear tyre after hitting the wall. Leclerc held on to hold off Hamilton in the battle for fifth place.

On lap 60, Magnussen stopped the car in the pits and retired.

On lap 61, Ricciardo pitted for soft tyres at the team’s request – and took Norris’s best lap time, robbing him of one point and the first Grand Slam of his career, earning radio gratitude from Verstappen.

Lando Norris won the Singapore Grand Prix, taking his third career victory, winning his first career hat-trick and closing the gap to Max Verstappen in the individual competition

Lando Norris won the Singapore Grand Prix, scoring the third victory of his career, winning the second hat-trick of his career and closing the gap to Max Verstappen in the individual competition.

Verstappen finished second, his eleventh podium finish this season – and fourth time on the second step.

Oscar Piastri finished the race third – McLaren increased their lead over Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship by a further 21 points.

For the first time, a race in Singapore was not only run without a safety car, but also without yellow flags.

There is a break in the offing; in a month the fight will continue with a stage in Austin.

Race results

Pilot Team Time Speed Piet
1. L. Norris McLaren 1:40:52,571 182,090 1
2. M. Verstappen Red Bull +20,945 181,462 1
3. O. Piastri McLaren +41.823 180,840 1
4. D.Russell Mercedes +61.040 180,272 1
5. S. Leclerc Ferrari +62.430 180,231 1
6. L. Hamilton Mercedes +85.248 179,561 1
7. K. Sainz Ferrari +96.039 179,246 1
8. F. Alonso Aston Martin +1 round 179,126 1
9. N. Hulkenberg Hare +1 round 179,059 1
10. C.Perez Red Bull +1 round 179.015 1
11. F. Colapinto Williams +1 round 178,966 1
12. Yu.Tsunoda RB +1 round 178,892 1
13. E.Okon Alps +1 round 177,858 1
14. L. Walk Aston Martin +1 round 177,755 1
15. G. Zhou Sauber +1 round 177,474 1
16. V. Bottas Sauber +1 round 177,456 1
17. P.Gasly Alps +1 round 177,420 1
18. D.Ricciardo RB +1 round 176,533 3
19. K. Magnussen Hare meeting 174,330 2

Best round: Daniel Ricciardo (RB) – 1:34.486 (60 laps, 188.218 km/h)

Reasons for the meetings

Pilot Team Kroogov Cause
A.Elbon Williams 15 overheat
K.Magnussen Hare 57 mechanical problems

Championship Position: Individual Competition

Championship Position: Constructors Championship

Team Engine Glasses
= 1. McLaren F1 Team Mercedes 516
= 2. Oracle Red Bull Racing Honda RBPT 475
= 3. Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari 441
= 4. Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team Mercedes 329
= 5. Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team Mercedes 86
= 6. Visa Cash App RB F1 Team Honda RBPT 34
= 7. MoneyGram Haas F1 Team Ferrari 31
= 8.Williams Racing Mercedes 16
= 9. BWT Alpine F1 Team Renault 13

Source: F1 News

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