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The Singapore Grand Prix had a few thrilling moments and close battles, but unlike previous editions, it ran uninterrupted, though a few cars did clip the walls.
Lando Norris powered his way to another victory, and the gap between him and Max Verstappen sits at 52 points with six races and three sprints left in the season. But it will be hard for the McLaren driver to be able to catch the Dutchman after Daniel Ricciardo recorded the fastest lap of the race at the last moment. That took a crucial point away from Norris, and now Verstappen can finish second to Norris for the remainder of the season and still secure the drivers’ world championship.
Ricciardo’s move to pit on the penultimate lap and vie for the fastest lap may divide opinions, considering RB is Red Bull’s sister team. It also comes as questions surround the Australian about his F1 future and whether this Singapore GP was his final race.
The race was long and brutal, with the hot and humid temperatures getting to several drivers. It’s the first time the Singapore GP hasn’t seen a safety car period, which is taxing on both drivers and cars. Alex Albon had to retire early due to a suspected power unit/cooling issue.
Formula One heads into a fall break with three weekends off until the paddock travels to Austin, Texas, for the United States Grand Prix. But before we pack up, here are a few takeaways from round 18 out of 24.
Norris created a lonely race for Verstappen
Right off the bat, Verstappen said during his on-track post-race interview that he had a race “just by myself.”
Norris was in a different league on Sunday, building a 20-second gap on the three-time world champion by the race’s end. He had a few close calls, like when he suffered front wing damage (which required a tweak rather than a full change) or later clipped another wall (this time at Turn 10).
“A few too many close calls. I had a couple little moments in the middle, but it was well-controlled, I think, otherwise,” the McLaren driver said. “And the car was mega, so I could push. We were flying the whole race, and at the end, I could just chill.”
His victory never looked in doubt, even with the two close calls. Norris pushed flat out; you could argue he could’ve let up occasionally. Even he admitted, “I was probably pushing a bit too hard.” But it was all “to open up a gap, and at one point, I wanted to try and open up a pit window to give myself an opportunity to maybe box at the end of the race for quickest lap if I needed to try and achieve that.”
Norris’ efforts took seven points out of Verstappen’s championship lead, narrowing the gap to 52 points. Six grands prix and three sprint races remain, meaning there is a chance of a closer title battle. Verstappen finishing second makes that chance much slimmer, and Red Bull is expected to bring upgrades in the coming races.
“I still have a lot of points I’ve got to catch up and it’s not going to be easy to do it. It’s against Red Bull and it’s against Max, the most dominant pairing you’ve ever seen in Formula One, from last year. It’s the same team, and it’s the same driver. So I have some of the toughest competition that Formula One has ever seen in the sport,” Norris said.
“We are doing a better job as a team right now because my car and our car is quicker than theirs. But that’s just credit to the team doing an amazing job and being smarter and doing cooler things and creating mini DRS flaps and stuff. So it’s just because that’s the game, and that’s the people we’re up against, the people who also do it and people who create these things.
“I’m working my heart out; I’m working my butt off to try and make sure that happens.”
What may be Ricciardo’s last F1 race
RB team principal Laurent Mekies said in the team’s post-race press release, “Given this may have been Daniel’s last race, we wanted to give him the chance to savor it and go out with the fastest lap.”
A decision is expected to be made in the coming days and weeks about Ricciardo’s F1 future. If Singapore was his last time out, he ended his career with the fastest lap — a 1:34.486 at an average speed of 188.218 kph, a lap time that is now a new lap record at Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Ricciardo started P16 on soft tires and spent much of the race out of points contention. The tire choice was to try “to be a bit more aggressive at the start,” given how tricky it is to overtake at the circuit. He said, “Our starts haven’t been great this year, and we’re on the dirty side, so we thought, ‘OK, if we put a hard on, (we’re) probably going to go backwards, so let’s put a soft on and see where it takes us, and if it doesn’t do much for us, we can try and pit early and maybe undercut a few cars.”
The RB driver was the first to pit, coming in on Lap 10. The medium tire appeared to be competitive, but he lost out in the fight with Pierre Gasly as Ricciardo’s tires started to drop off. He pitted again on Lap 46, and then came the call to come in on the penultimate lap. When asked if he knew why he was told to pit, Ricciardo said, “I had an idea, but I also thought they were just letting me have some fun because we were a long way out of the points,” jokingly adding later, he is, “kinda hoping Max wins by a point now as I’ve guaranteed myself a very nice Christmas present, so, sorry Lando!”
The move was curious, given RB is Red Bull’s sister team. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said, “Daniel obviously wanted to finish the race on a high. You’d have to ask VCARB about that.”
Speculation continues to swirl about Ricciardo’s future. If this is his last F1 race, he ended the weekend on a memorable note with that lap.
“I think I’m in a much happier place in the sport now than I was then,” Ricciardo said, referencing his McLaren stint that ended after the 2022 season. “If this was it, then let’s say I have a little bit more peace. I’m proud of the career — I tried to become world champion, I tried to become the best at something in the world. I think it is a tall task that we ask from ourselves. Some achieve it, some don’t.
“In the end, if I came up a little short, I also can’t be too hard on myself. Happy with the effort I put in, and for that, there’s no sadness or feeling or regret or what could have been.”
Mercedes’ missed chance
Lewis Hamilton and George Russell may have had a second-row lockout after qualifying, but Mercedes ultimately was the fourth-fastest car on Sunday.
Because of the competitive pace on Saturday, the team opted to start Lewis on the soft tire in hopes of making early gains. Team principal Toto Wolff said it was a joint decision based on previous Singapore GPs “where it’s basically a procession, Monaco-like.” Passing is difficult — but not impossible — at this track, and the opening of the lap is an ideal overtaking opportunity. However, the tires began overheating, and the seven-time world champion had to manage his tires to make them last to an optimal lap so a one-stop strategy could still work.
He pitted on Lap 17, which made him vulnerable to Charles Leclerc, who didn’t pit until Lap 36. Ferrari had both a pace and tire offset, which made the late-race pass easier. Once around Hamilton, Leclerc set his sights on Russell, who managed to keep him at bay.
Wolff said the car struggles at hotter tracks and tough traction, like in Baku last weekend and Singapore. “It’s just at the moment not what we expect from ourselves because if your quickest car is a minute behind the leader, it’s just difficult to accept.”
Why having no safety car matters in Singapore
Singapore is known for its hot temperatures and humidity, and some drivers train differently for this race weekend. Because of the tight confines of the street circuit, a safety car period can usually be expected at Marina Bay Street Circuit. One has happened every season F1 has raced there—until Sunday.
A safety car period allows the drivers to take a breather as lap times slow and offers a respite to the cars. Though a few drivers clipped the wall on Sunday, and Kevin Magnussen limped around the track with a puncture, the 62-lap race went nonstop.
Nico Hülkenberg arrived for his F1 TV interview with hands wrinkled from the sweat, he said. Hamilton and Russell had “borderline heatstroke,” Wolff said, and they missed their post-race media duties. The team confirmed both are well. Norris poured water on himself before his on-track post-race interview, and Colapinto said over the team radio that he didn’t speak much “to save energy.”
“It’s definitely difficult. It’s very, very warm. I was speaking to Esteban (Ocon), while we are driving, we don’t feel it,” Charles Leclerc said to F1 TV. “You don’t really feel tired, you don’t really feel warm. You know it’s going to be a long race. Around mid-race, you’re like, OK, there’s still a half of the race, so it’s going to be tough. But actually, you don’t have time to think about it. The horrible part is when you cool down after the checkered flag. Here, I think, you release the tension, and when you’ve got to get out of the car, it always feels like you’re going to faint.
“It is quite difficult because it’s just a lack of water that is very difficult to manage, but I will say you never really feel it until the tension goes away.”
That comes down to the adrenaline rush and focus needed to nail a lap around the Marina Bay Street Circuit. The drivers are reaching high speeds between the walls. Though hot and humid, this year in Singapore isn’t as bad as the Qatar Grand Prix last year, where concerns were raised as drivers were pushed to their physical limits, Oscar Piastri said. Qatar may be F1’s toughest race.
“It was a tough race, definitely. Not on the same level as what we had in Qatar last year, I would say, but to be honest, it almost gets harder when it gets lonely,” the McLaren driver said. “Once I got past the Mercedes, Max was, I think, 20 seconds ahead, and I knew I was a lot quicker than the Mercedes, so the last 15 laps felt longer than the first 45.
“It was a tough race, definitely. It always is here. But in some ways having the air blowing in your face and stuff like that is almost quite nice. When you stop concentrating so much and you don’t have as much air in your face, it actually can feel worse. So definitely a tough evening, but that’s what we’re paid for.”
Top photos: MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images, Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images
