Norris had “a few too many close calls” on course to victory · F1 · RaceFans

Singapore Grand Prix winner Lando Norris admitted he had too many “close calls” with the barriers on his way to win by more than 20 seconds from Max Verstappen.

Norris led every lap of the race from pole position to secure his third victory of the season ahead of the championship leader.

However, Norris suffered minor front wing damage when he locked up and gently clipped the wall at turn 14 while leading by almost 25 seconds on lap 29 just before his first pit stop. He also brushed the outside wall on the entry to turn ten in his second stint, but escaped without any further damage.

Norris held on to win comfortably ahead of Verstappen, while his McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri finished third.

“It was an amazing race,” Norris said. “A few too many close calls.

“I had a couple of little moments in the middle, but it was well controlled, I think, otherwise. The car was mega, so I could push. We were flying the whole race and at the end I could just chill. So it was nice race, still tough – I’m a bit out of breath – but a very fine one.”

Despite his too-close-for-comfort brushes with the barriers, Norris denied that he had been taking unnecessary risks despite his healthy lead in the race.

“It’s not that you’re necessarily over-pushing,” he said. “Sometimes it can be that you’re just chilling too much. Maybe it’s a bit of both, I don’t know what it is. But it’s tricky.

“It was still tough out there. Easy to lock the tyres like I did. I still pushed. I didn’t want to have a one second lead, I wanted to have the biggest lead possible. So it was good fun. Maximum points. Nice to have Oscar here too on the podium, he drove well today. So a good day for the team also.”

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