Pole position, a race always in the lead and a win (the third of the season) that came, in fact, without any opponents. Lando Norris has much to be happy about, but his is always a half smile. When he parked the car under the podium in the space set aside for the winner, he saw Max Verstappen coming up behind him. As in Zandvoort, the world championship leader limited the damage as much as possible, overturning a scenario that at the start of the weekend was very worrying. Norris’s stage balance shows 7 points nibbled away from Max, with the gap in the general classification down to 54 points. Lando is advancing, but at a slow pace.
For McLaren, it seems more leader in the constructors’ standings, the verdict of Marina Bay is undoubtedly positive, but the sixty-two laps of the race were more painful than expected. Not because of the potential of the single-seater, definitely the most performing, but because of two mistakes made by Norris that risked nullifying the work of a weekend. Lando is experiencing first-hand the specific difficulties that the role of star entails. On lap 27, when he could count on a margin of 23 seconds over Verstappen (thanks to an impressive pace with the medium tyres) he lost concentration, managing to recover in extremis the single-seater that was on the verge of an impact against the barriers that would have been sensational. It went well.
The victory erases everything, but it is symptomatic of how easy it is to do what Verstappen made seem easy in the previous two seasons. The best Norris will be needed to chase the world championship dream, and the support of Oscar Piastri will also be needed, called upon to take points away from Max. If the car confirms the potential seen in Singapore, Lando will have his opportunity, but the whole package will need to be at its maximum efficiency to beat Max. “On tracks where aerodynamic load is used, like here in Singapore, we do very well,” admitted Andrea Stella. “We have the examples of Hungary, Zandvoort and here in Marina Bay, in this configuration I think we have the best aerodynamic efficiency of the entire grid. But on tracks with less downforce I think the efficiency of the Ferrari and Red Bull are much more in line with our car.”
Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
This is what Verstappen is hoping for. The world champion has not had the best car at his disposal for months now, but by gritting his teeth he has always managed to keep the deficit as low as possible, like today in Singapore. Max is aware, however, that the defensive strategy will not be enough in the last six races of the season (plus three sprints) to contain the assault of McLaren and Norris. In the last four races he has given up 26 points to Lando, an average that if it were to continue would not allow him to win his fourth world title.
“I think we will fight until the end of the championship,” commented Christian Horner. “We are 52 points ahead with six races to go, so there are a lot of points up for grabs.” Red Bull’s team principal confirmed that technical developments will arrive in Austin, probably the most delicate update the team has brought to the track since the days of the head-to-head with Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes.
“It’s not all finalised yet,” Horner confirmed. “There’s a lot of information that’s come out over the last couple of weekends that will influence what we bring to Austin. But we’ve got very different tracks, from the wide, fast corners of Austin, to the high-altitude straight of Mexico, and Brazil, which is also different to the previous ones. It’ll be interesting.” There will be interest, that’s for sure, but just a few months ago no one at Red Bull (and not just at Red Bull) would have imagined that Austin would be a sort of last call for Verstappen and his team. All of this, however, always provided that McLaren confirms its Marina Bay form.
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