Lando Norris cruises to victory at Singapore Grand Prix to cut Max Verstappen's F1 lead

SINGAPORE (AP) — Lando Norris survived a couple of brushes with barriers as he won the Singapore Grand Prix with ease and cut into Max Verstappen's Formula 1 standings lead Sunday.

Norris started on pole position ahead of Verstappen and steadily built a large lead for his third career win. All have come this year.

From now on, though, the title is no longer entirely in Norris' hands. Even if he wins every remaining race, second place in each would be enough for Verstappen to retain the title.

Norris started on pole position for the sixth time in his career and, for a driver with a tendency to lose places off the grid this season, had an unusually drama-free start. It was the first time Norris has won from pole without losing a place on the first lap.

There were two brief moments of jeopardy when the McLaren driver first locked his brakes and touched the barriers, prompting concern he'd damaged the front wing, and later when a rear tire brushed another but Norris seemed largely unaffected as he cruised to the win.

“It was an amazing race. A few too many close calls,” Norris said. "It’s not that you’re necessarily over-pushing. 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."

With such a big lead, staying focused was one of Norris’ challenges. Races in Singapore have a habit of turning on strategy calls, or if a crash brings out the safety car and brings the cars back together. Norris had to stay alert but there was no safety car — a first in Singapore.

Verstappen came in second for Red Bull after a race that was largely uneventful after he held off Lewis Hamilton into the first corner at the start.

Oscar Piastri, the winner for McLaren in Azerbaijan last week, moved up from fifth on the grid to finish third after passing Mercedes' Hamilton and later George Russell for the final podium place.

Verstappen seemed relaxed Sunday, holding onto second and minimizing the damage to his lead, which was trimmed from 59 to 52 points.

“I think on a weekend where we knew that we were going to struggle, to be P2 is a good achievement. Of course we’re not happy with second,” Verstappen said. “Now we just have to try and improve more and more and that’s what we’ll try to do.”

Six rounds of the championship remain, starting with the United States Grand Prix next month, and three of those offer extra points with sprint races.

If Norris earns maximum points in every one of those nine events, including the bonus point for fastest lap, and Verstappen finishes second in each, then Norris would cut the gap by only 51 points — finishing one behind Verstappen, who hasn't won since June.

That state of play is partly thanks to Daniel Ricciardo, whose place in F1 with Red Bull’s second team RB could be under threat. The Australian made a small but potentially vital intervention in the championship fight Sunday.

Ricciardo stopped for fresh tires late on and set the fastest lap of the race on his way to finishing 18th. That deprived Norris of the extra point for fastest lap that he seemed set to secure.

“Thank you, Daniel,” Verstappen said over the radio.

Russell was fourth, ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, while seven-time champion Hamilton had to settle for sixth after Mercedes' strategy left him on older tires than his rivals at the end of the race.

Carlos Sainz Jr. was seventh for Ferrari after crashing in qualifying, with Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin eighth and Haas' Nico Hulkenberg ninth.

Tenth place was all Sergio Perez could manage in a season where he has frequently struggled to match the pace of his Red Bull teammate Verstappen.

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The Associated Press