Despite his third-row start, Lando Norris turned his luck around after some brave overtaking during the F1 Singapore GP saw him climb to P3. This result helped McLaren claim the title in the Constructors’ Championship. Nonetheless, Norris’ racing had him get noted for an incident with his teammate, Oscar Piastri.
Even though the Briton’s move cost him a small fragmant of his front wing, the Briton kept up his attack on Verstappen. Getting ahead of the Dutchman would have helped keep him at bay in his attempt at recovering lost places in the Drivers’ Championship. Yet, the Marina Bay Street Circuit’s unforgiving walls held him back.
Regaining confidence in the MCL39
The F1 Singapore GP weekend was quite difficult for Lando Norris, especially after his tough Qualifying. But he did not let that performance fallter his confidence. Throught FP sessions, McLaren, similar to most of the other teams, prioritised qualifying laps over long runs. This meant that Norris went into the race with no accurate expectations for the race pace.
Nevertheless, his pace was better than expected. Rethinking the mistakes that brought him into P5 in the first place, Norris rued the lack of data for missing out on the victory. He responded to George Russell’s praise in the post-race press conference, where the Mercedes driver labeled the MCL39 the fastest car this weekend:
“Probably, but probably just a little too late in the weekend to say that. I think more just the race pace was strong, like it always is, and we just weren’t good enough yesterday. We still need to understand… I think we understand why. But if we were to re-run qualifying now, what would we really do different?
I don’t think we have maybe the best or clearest picture, and that’s the only reason we couldn’t win today. But the pace was, I think, also the best out there.”
The missed out opportunities
Despite having the fastest machinery this weekend, Norris admitted that it did not make a difference because he could not challenge Verstappen. Stating that he could have overtaken Russell if given the chance, the McLaren driver was left disappointed:
“It didn’t matter — I couldn’t get past Max [Verstappen]. He didn’t make any mistakes and it’s too difficult to follow here. So a bit of a shame, but I did what I could. And even though I was feeling good with the car, and I felt like if I could get past Max, I’d be able to try and have a crack at catching George [Russell], and I think I would. It’s just too difficult to follow and too difficult to overtake.”
While he looked over the what ifs, it was clear that this F1 Singapore GP was the best performance Norris could have extracted from the car. The Briton struggled to find the balance all weekend, with Qualifying proving just that.
The opening lap battle with Piastri
As the lights went out for the start of the F1 Singapore GP, Lando Norris had a great start. This lauch helped him get ahead fast, yet Oscar Piastri was there to challenge him climb. The two Papaya drivers went wheel to wheel as they chased Verstappen for P2.
Confessing to not even being able to recal the first moments of the race, Norris went over the details of his incident with Piastri. The battle with his teammate saw the Briton drive into the rear end of Verstappen’s RB21. Pointing out how that lap was the only opportunity he saw for gaining those two positions, Lando Norris had no regrets over his aggresive approach:
“I can’t remember it, to be honest. I think the start was good. Just the right-hand side of the grid was good. I think it was a good launch as well. So I got across and put myself in a good position to not get checked up out of Turn 1 and into Turn 2. Just had a big up on the inside of Oscar [Piastri]. It was very close, you know, so slippery because it was still damp in places and drying out.
“I think I just clipped the back of Max’s car, and that just gave me a little correction. But then that was it. So yeah, good in terms of getting two positions. If I didn’t get them there, I probably never would have got them. Just because, like we saw, it was too difficult to overtake. So the aggression there and the forward thinking paid off.”
Carrying damage throughout the race
Close calls like Norris’ at the start of the F1 Singapore GP can cost the drivers a whole wing replacement pit stop. However, the McLaren driver managed to avoid any critical damage following the front wing incident.
Lando Norris spoke of the damage of to his front wing briefly. At the moment of the press conference, the Briton lacked the knowledge of the extent of the damage.
In terms of performace, Norris revealed the effect his damaged wing had over his ability to overtake: “No idea. But not much.”
The 25-year-old recognised that he could not feel any impact to his car’s performance: “No. I didn’t even know at the time.”
