On his sixth attempt starting from pole position, Lando Norris finally converted his early advantage into victory, leading the Singapore Grand Prix from the first lap and landing a significant strike against Max Verstappen. This was Norris’ third win of the season, while Verstappen’s winless streak dragged on to an unsettling eight races, tightening the gap in the Drivers' Championship to 52 points. It could have been just 51, if not for Daniel Ricciardo’s late charge to snatch the fastest lap point.

The drama began even before the race. Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin mechanics were feverishly replacing his front brakes after he reported excessive vibrations. Tubes, wires, and toolboxes littered the grid with just 10 minutes to the formation lap, but Aston managed to get Stroll back in the race from 17th on the grid.

At the sharp end, Norris nailed the start and surged ahead into Turn 1, leaving Verstappen to fend off an ambitious Lewis Hamilton on soft tyres, while George Russell sneaked into fourth. There was some jostling further back—Oscar Piastri and Nico Hülkenberg traded places, Charles Leclerc moved up to eighth, and Carlos Sainz found himself dropping places to Franco Colapinto and Sergio Pérez.

Just three laps in, Russell radioed Mercedes asking for Hamilton to increase his pace. The team calmly replied, “He’s managing tyres where he needs to, let’s think long-term.” Meanwhile, McLaren instructed Norris to build a five-second buffer over Verstappen, and he duly delivered with blistering fastest laps.

Behind this front pack, Fernando Alonso and Leclerc were in a tight DRS train behind Hülkenberg, with both struggling to find a way past. Ricciardo, potentially racing in his last F1 appearance, was the first to dive into the pits on Lap 10. Yuki Tsunoda, caught in a Colapinto-Pérez battle, cut his engineer off with a dry “too much information.”

Sainz, battling in the midfield, pitted on Lap 14 for hard tyres, emerging just in front of Alex Albon, staving off a potential undercut from the Williams. But not for long—Albon soon retired with cooling issues.

Hamilton pitted on Lap 18, with a casual admission that he’d clipped the wall entering the pit lane. Norris, comfortably 17 seconds ahead of Verstappen by this point, was told McLaren didn’t want to pit first, while Leclerc’s frustrations mounted as he remained stuck behind Hülkenberg. Finally, on Lap 28, Russell pitted and rejoined ahead of Hamilton. Leclerc then pulled off a critical move past Hülkenberg to claim fourth, though he was still 18 seconds behind Piastri.

Then the drama kicked into high gear on Lap 30. Norris brushed the wall at Turn 14 and reported potential front-wing damage. Red Bull reacted by pitting Verstappen, who rejoined in a tight scrap with Leclerc. The Ferrari initially held off the Red Bull, but Verstappen muscled his way past a few corners later. Norris, meanwhile, pitted from the lead but retained P1, rejoining ahead of Piastri with Verstappen over 21 seconds adrift.

As the race wore on, Piastri and Leclerc stretched their stints, with Russell narrowly missing out on passing Leclerc after going off track. Leclerc finally pitted on Lap 37, emerging just ahead of Hülkenberg, while Piastri followed two laps later.

The top ten were now set: Norris led, with Verstappen, Russell, Hamilton, and Piastri chasing behind. Piastri wasted no time in dispatching Hamilton for fourth and set his sights on Russell, while Leclerc breezed past Alonso for seventh. The race was now on.

In the closing stages, Norris clipped the wall once again, but that didn’t stop him from setting purple sector times. Leclerc overtook Hamilton for fifth, while Kevin Magnussen smacked the wall at Turn 5, picking up a puncture.

With just five laps remaining, Norris had extended his lead to a dominant 29 seconds. Leclerc, running in Russell’s shadow, tried a last-ditch effort to steal fourth but couldn’t make it stick. Norris made a small mistake while lapping Colapinto but still cruised to his first lights-to-flag victory, crossing the line 21 seconds ahead of Verstappen.

Norris' win slashed Verstappen's championship lead from 59 to 52 points with 186 still up for grabs. Piastri rounded out the podium, boosting McLaren’s advantage over Red Bull in the Constructors' standings.

Russell finished a solid fourth, fending off Leclerc, while Hamilton, Sainz, Alonso, Hülkenberg, and Pérez completed the top ten. Ricciardo, ever the opportunist, made a late stop for soft tyres and swiped the fastest lap point, denying Norris that final accolade of a perfect weekend.

Final Results

1 Lando Norris (McLaren) 1:40:52.571 62 laps

2 Max Verstappen (Red Bull) +20.945

3 Oscar Piastri (McLaren) +41.823

4 George Russell (Mercedes) +61.040

5 Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) +62.430

6 Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) +85.248

7 Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) +96.036

8 Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) +1 Lap

9 Nico Hulkenberg (Haas) +1 Lap

10 Sergio Perez (Red Bull) +1 Lap

11 Franco Colapino (Williams) +1 Lap

12 Yuki Tsunoda (VCARB) +1 Lap

13 Esteban Ocon (Alpine) +1 Lap

14 Lance Stroll (Aston Martin) +1 Lap

15 Guanyu Zhou Kick (Sauber) +1 Lap

16 Valtteri Bottas (Kick Sauber) +1 Lap

17 Pierre Gasly (Alpine) +1 Lap

18 Daniel Ricciardo (VCARB) +1 Lap

Did not finish

Kevin Magnussen (Haas) lap 60 – puncture damage

Alex Albon (Williams) lap 17 – cooling issue