Lando Norris confessed he felt like being sick as he lined up on the grid before the Singapore Grand Prix began. However, the waves of nausea weren’t down to McLaren being so close to claiming the constructors’ championship for the second time in as many years.
Sickness meant he had hardly consumed any food or liquid – hardly perfect preparation for what’s arguably the most gruelling race on the calendar. Yet he remained focused when the race got under way, climbing from fifth on the grid to third by the end of the first lap.
Making contact with team-mate Oscar Piastri wasn’t exactly what he’d planned, though it was preferable to slamming into the back of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull in front. The duo maintained third and fourth positions throughout the remainder of the Grand Prix, sufficient for McLaren to clinch their 10th constructors’ crown and second consecutive title.
Norris said: “When I was on the grid, I really wanted to throw up a little bit and get it out of my system and go and focus. But as soon as you put the helmet on and you’re in the car, adrenaline really starts to kick in and your mind starts to go elsewhere. I could distract myself a bit.”
Much of his race was spent staring at the back of Verstappen’s car, though he couldn’t find a way past. Had he succeeded, Norris believed he might have challenged George Russell: “I thought that if I could get past I would have been able to quite easily catch George, the pace was that strong. A shame the overtaking was so difficult, but the pace was good – just not good enough.”
He won’t be overly concerned – McLaren’s exuberant championship celebrations in the pit lane weren’t diminished by the fact they failed to triumph on the day. The focus now shifts entirely to the drivers’ championship battle and, for the third consecutive Grand Prix, Norris chipped away at Piastri’s points advantage which has now been reduced to 22.
Pole-sitter Russell dominated from start to finish to claim Mercedes’ first Singapore victory since 2018 and was as astonished as anyone by the speed he discovered. He remarked: “This track has not been my best friend over the years, mainly from my own doing. Friday was not a good day, I was not feeling good. But from Q3 I felt really on it and the race, really in control.”
Lewis Hamilton and Oliver Bearman ensured a quartet of Britons finished in the points, though the seven-time world champion was relegated one position from seventh following a post-race penalty. His brakes gave way with two laps remaining and he was compelled to cut multiple corners, infuriating Fernando Alonso behind him who unleashed a six-expletive tirade over the radio about Hamilton’s driving.
The Ferrari driver explained: “I was feeling really positive, attacking to close the 22-second gap to Kimi [Antonelli]… I saw my brakes were getting hot. Sparks came off and my pedal went long. I was grateful I still made the corner.”
Hamilton insisted he “wasn’t getting a lasting advantage” by cutting corners, but the stewards disagreed and penalised him for “leaving the track without a justifiable reason, multiple times”.
Both he and team-mate Charles Leclerc were forced to settle for positions behind the Mercedes duo as Ferrari now trail the Silver Arrows by 27 points in their fight for second place in the championship standings.