Norris hails ‘amazing’ Singapore win despite ‘close calls’

Lando Norris was thrilled with his dominant drive to victory in the Singapore Grand Prix, with the McLaren man feeling that he was “flying” throughout the 62-lap encounter despite some close calls with the barriers along the way.

Having struggled with his starts at times during the 2024 season, Norris ensured that this was not the case this weekend by making a strong launch off the line to hold the lead into Turn 1.

From there his position never looked to be at serious risk, with the Briton eventually crossing the line with a whopping 20-second margin to Max Verstappen in P2.

Reflecting on his third F1 victory after jumping out of the car, Norris said: “It was an amazing race. A few too many close calls, a couple of little moments in the middle, but it was well controlled I think otherwise.

2024 Singapore Grand Prix: Norris crosses the line to take a dominant victory under the lights

“The car was mega. I could push, we were flying the whole race and at the end could just chill, so it was a nice race. Still tough, I’m a bit out of breath. A very fun one.”

Those “close calls” perhaps left the McLaren team’s hearts in their mouths as Norris made a couple of brushes with the walls of the Marina Bay Street Circuit. One of those incidents prompted the 24-year-old’s race engineer to remind him to apply “full concentration” and “take a drink” amid Singapore’s humid conditions.

RACE START: Watch the getaway in Singapore as Norris holds the lead while others battle it out behind

Quizzed on whether he needed to push so hard given the sizeable gap he held to Verstappen throughout the race, Norris explained: “It’s not that you’re necessarily over-pushing, sometimes it can be that you’re just chilling too much. Maybe it was a bit of both, I don’t know what it is.

“It’s tricky, it was still tough out there, easy to lock the tyres like I did. I didn’t want to have a one-second lead, I wanted to have the biggest lead possible.

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - SEPTEMBER 22: Lando Norris of Great Britain driving the (4) McLaren MCL38 — Norris enjoyed a dominant drive to victory under the lights in Singapore

“It was good fun, maximum points, nice to have Oscar [Piastri] here too on the podium – he drove well today, so a good day for the team also.”

And on whether the race had been his physically toughest so far, Norris added: “Similar to Qatar last year. I wasn’t taking it easy, I could have taken it a lot more easy! A little dizzy at the minute, but all good.”

AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action from the Singapore GP as Norris beats Verstappen

Norris’ victory means that he has again eaten into Verstappen’s lead in the drivers’ championship, with the Dutchman’s advantage cut to 52 points – which could have been 51, had it not been for Daniel Ricciardo setting the fastest lap of the race on the final tour, denying Norris an additional point.