Lando Norris had a strong start from pole position, entering the first corner uncontested and leading the race from pole position. Max Verstappen faced pressure from Lewis Hamilton, who started the race on the quicker soft tyres, but the run to the first corner was too short for him to bid for P2. Fernando Alonso and Charles Leclerc ran wide and cut the first corner, not losing time.
The leading McLaren appeared to be in a league of his own. Initially managing to keep Verstappen outside of DRS range, Norris turned up the speed in the opening stint, gaining roughly a second per lap over rival Max Verstappen. By lap 16 he was 10 seconds in the lead. By lap 21, 15 seconds. Lap 26, 20 seconds.
Having started on the soft tyres, Hamilton was the first of the lead drivers to pit for a set of hard tyres on lap 18. The Brit expressed frustration over the strategy decision after a few laps on the hard tyres, which did not receive great reviews this evening.
Many drivers who started on the medium tyres opted to extend their stints beyond Pirelli’s predicted pit window, potentially wanting to avoid the hard tyres and hoping for a safety car that we have become accustomed to at this circuit. George Russell was the next of the leaders to pit on lap 28, coming under pressure from Oscar Piastri, who had suddenly found some pace in his McLaren.
Red Bull pitted next the following lap, with Sergio Perez coming in first and Max Verstappen pitting a lap later. Verstappen rejoined the race narrowly behind Charles Leclerc, expressing anger about being “undercut” on the team radio, not realizing that the Ferrari had yet to pit. Leclerc had spent much of his opening stint stuck behind Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso.
Meanwhile, at the front of the field, the race very nearly changed. Despite the huge gap out front, Norris showed he was still pushing hard. He locked up the brakes in turn 14, coming only inches from running nose-first into the barrier. He managed to get the car turned at the last possible second, clipping the barrier and causing minor damage to his front wing. It wasn’t enough damage to justify a front wing change when Norris pitted the following lap. Despite losing a heap of time in the incident, Norris still had enough of a gap to rejoin the race in the lead over his teammate, who had been unleashed into P2 when Russell pitted.
Piastri was the last of the lead cars to pit for hard tyres on lap 39, giving him tyres that were 10 laps newer than his competitors. He rejoined the race behind both Mercedes drivers but made quick work of them in the laps that followed, adding to his personal overtaking highlight reel. Unfortunately for the Aussie, he was too far from Verstappen and was forced to settle for P3.
Norris was single-handedly keeping hearts pounding at the McLaren pit wall, brushing his rear tyre on the barrier on the entry into turn 10, still with a more than 20-second lead over Verstappen. The incident was eerily similar to the move that ended George Russell’s race during the closing stages of last year’s race. The blood pressure remained high at McLaren while Norris overtook backmarkers in the closing stages.
Further back, Franco Colapinto was looking at a point for P10, but he was not able to get close enough to the Red Bull of Sergio Perez. It was not all disappointment for the rookie, having received high praise from Perez in the early laps of the race, with the Mexican telling his team over the radio that Colapinto was difficult to overtake.
Russell also proved difficult to overtake, managing to fend off Leclerc in the closing laps. Leclerc had newer tyres, having extended his first stint. He was within DRS range as the laps ticked down, but had to settle for a P5 finish.
Fireworks filled the sky when Norris crossed the finish line at the end of 62 laps around the Marina Bay Circuit, gaining more points on championship rival Max Verstappen. Verstappen finished in P2 and Daniel Ricciardo, who pitted for softs in the closing laps, stole the fastest lap from Norris at the end of the race, further reducing Verstappen’s points loss. Ricciardo earned no bonus point for his effort, having finished outside the top 10. Oscar Piastri stood on the podium for the seventh time this season, this time on the bottom step.
Everyone will now have a long time to recover from this sweltering Singapore Grand Prix. Four weeks separate us from the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas on October 20.
| Pos. | Driver | Laps | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 62 | 1:40:52.571 | 25 | ||
| 2 | 62 | +20.945 | 18 | ||
| 3 | 62 | +41.823 | 15 | ||
| 4 | 62 | +61.040 | 12 | ||
| 5 | 62 | +62.430 | 10 | ||
| 6 | 62 | +85.248 | 8 | ||
| 7 | 62 | +96.039 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 61 | +1 Lap | 4 | ||
| 9 | 61 | +1 Lap | 2 | ||
| 10 | 61 | +1 Lap | 1 | ||
| 11 | 61 | +1 Lap | |||
| 12 | 61 | +1 Lap | |||
| 13 | 61 | +1 Lap | |||
| 14 | 61 | +1 Lap | |||
| 15 | 61 | +1 Lap | |||
| 16 | 61 | +1 Lap | |||
| 17 | 61 | +1 Lap | |||
| 18 | 61 | +1 Lap |  | ||
| DNF | 57 | ||||
| DNF | 15 |
