2024 Singapore Grand Prix

Lando Norris performed the most dominant victory of the season beneath the Singapore floodlights.

On pole by 0.2sec from Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, he retained position off the line, got into the first corner ahead – and simply disappeared off into the night in his beautifully-balanced McLaren MCL38. With both on medium tyres in the first stint, he was at times around 1sec per lap faster than the Red Bull. His pace advantage on the hards in stint 2 wasn’t as great, but still he was able to build up a pitstop’s-worth of gap.

Balance on a high downforce set-up was what it was all about. That and Norris’s always formidable raw speed. He hit the ground running on Friday, totally at ease around the tricky confines. That great balance was another demonstration of the team’s understanding of aero elasticity, just expressed differently to the ‘mini DRS’ rear wing of the low-downforce tracks. In a field of cars which generally have a small window between low-speed understeer and high-speed oversteer, that balance is gold dust, not only giving its drivers a beautifully confidence-inspiring car in which to push but also allowing it to generate good front tyre temperatures without overheating the rears.