Lando Norris reigned supreme in the sweltering heat of Singapore to take a crucial win in his bid for the championship. The McLaren driver had a couple of close moments with the barriers in Singapore but still won the race by over a 20 second margin, yet again showing the sheer dominance of the car over Redbull and Verstappen.
Max Verstappen did everything he could in the context of the championship by finishing 2nd and making sure that Norris does not cut too much into his championship lead. Oscar Piastri took the last podium spot after a damage control drive, which he did brilliantly to overcome the challenge of Mercedes.
It was a clean getaway from the line for race winner Norris after which, he was almost untouchable as he lead every lap from start to finish. He was agonizingly close to completing the grandslam but Daniel Ricciardo in team RB in what could have been his final race, stopped for fresh softs at the very end of the race and ended up with the fastest lap of the race. A 1st and 3rd for McLaren will however be very welcomed at Woking as the team seem to be swiftly moving towards a constructors championship.
Sergio Perez in the other Redbull had yet another underwhelming performance as he only managed a 10th place finish, picking up just the one point on offer. Redbull will start being nervous going to the 4 week break and the races following, as they have now lost all ground in constructors championship and with Norris slowly but surely making inroads into the championship lead for Verstappen.
Ferrari claimed to have a fast race car for the weekend but their race was pretty much undone following a disastrous qualifying on Saturday. Leclerc and Sainz started 9th and 10th and Sunday’s race was a damage limitation scenario. Leclerc drove a superb race to finish P5 after being involved in early battles with Alonso and Hulkenberg. He then overtook Hamilton to get promoted to P5 but could not clear George Russell when P4 was at stake with about 4 laps to go. Carlos Sainz finished P7 after falling backwards at the start of the race, after which a whole lot of improvement was not possible.
Mercedes started off the race with split strategies for their drivers, with Hamilton starting from P3 on soft tyres and Russell starting on mediums. It did not workout quite well for Hamilton as he was forced to pit early and was at a strategic disadvantage compared to the other drivers which put him on the backfoot for most of the race and he only managed a P6 finish. Russell was able to fend off Leclerc towards the end of the race and finished a handy P4.
It was an excellent showing for Nico Hulkenberg in the Haas throughout the weekend and he finished a strong P9. While he picked up 2 crucial points, it was not a great race for his teammate Kevin Magnussen returning from his race ban. The Danish driver was not able to finish the race and had his fair share of problems throughout. The youngest driver on the grid, Colapinto in the Williams had another strong race as a follow up to his points finish in Baku by finishing P11. His teammate Albon in the other Williams had to retire early on, on lap 15 owing to an overheated power unit.
It was a mixed showing for Aston Martin, with Alonso picking up points after a P8 finish but Lance Stroll could only manage a P14. Alpine had yet another weekend to forget, with Ocon finishing P13 and Gasly finishing P17. A similar weekend was on the cards for Stake F1 with Zhou at P15 and Bottas at P16.
An unusual 4-week break now presents itself before the last 6 races of the season, with the fight for the drivers and the constructors championships heating up. It is Austin up next, an interesting track that always keeps the fans guessing as to what might endure. Mclaren will look to carry forward their ever rising momentum while Redbull will look to throw everything at them to stop them in their tracks.