Norris ‘banished demon’ in ‘lucky’ Singapore win – Brundle

Martin Brundle believes Lando Norris has “banished the demon” of his first lap curse by leading the Singapore Grand Prix from pole position.

In the five prior grand prix, plus two sprints, in which the McLaren driver had started first, he had up until that point failed to finish the opening lap in the lead – a painful run that occupied many column inches.

However, F1 driver-turned-commentator Brundle feels Norris can now move on from that torrid run after his impressive light-to-flag triumph at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

“It was another dominant victory by Lando Norris and McLaren, and reminiscent of his win back in Zandvoort,” the 65-year-old wrote for Sky Sports F1.

“He controlled the pace and the race at will, lapping everybody up to Carlos Sainz in 7th.

“And Lando has certainly banished the demon of poor starts and failing to lead at the end of the first lap from his previous five pole positions.”

Norris’ ‘lucky payback’ was a ‘wake up call’

Brundle, who himself raced for McLaren – amongst other teams – during his F1 career, highlighted that part of the dominance of Norris’ victory was owning to the lack of safety cars and yellow flags – a first for the Singapore Grand Prix.

However, he was also keen to point out that Norris’ driver to the chequered flag was not without its near-misses.

“From time-to-time Norris has been unlucky in his F1 career, things haven’t always fallen his way, but he had some lucky payback on Sunday evening,” Brundle wrote.

“A locked brake took him gently into the tyre wall at one point, but it was soft enough not to damage his front wing or drag the car into the barriers. That was a very close call.

“Later on, he would clip the same wall jutting out on the approach to turn 10 which destroyed George Russell’s car and race last year. A couple more centimetres the wrong way and Norris’ race would have been over.

“It was a wake up call for him, comfortably out front and no doubt beginning to feel hot and bothered in the car, and so next lap he delivered his fastest of the race to tune his senses back up.