Singapore GP: Norris cruises to dominant win

Lando Norris of McLaren dominated the Singapore Grand Prix from start to finish on Sunday, taking another chunk out of Max Verstappen's Formula One championship lead.

The 24-year-old Briton raced away from pole position at the floodlit Marina Bay track and, despite twice scraping the unforgiving barriers, led every lap until the chequered flag.

Verstappen began and finished second for Red Bull, 20.945 seconds behind his main rival, while McLaren's Oscar Piastri finished third from fifth on the grid in a sweltering night race that lasted 62 laps in punishing heat and humidity.

Verstappen's 59-point lead over Norris was reduced to 52 with six rounds remaining, including three sprints, while McLaren increased their lead over Red Bull in the constructors' standings to 41 points.

There are still 180 points to be won in the drivers' championship.

"It was an amazing race. A few too many close calls, I had a couple of little moments in the middle, but it was well controlled, I think," said Norris after his third career victory and third of the season.

"The car was mega. I could push, we were flying the whole race and at the end could just chill. So it was a nice race, still tough, I'm a bit out of breath, but a very fun one."

Norris could've gotten a bonus point for fastest lap, but RB's Daniel Ricciardo pitted for soft tires for the third time and took it at the end of what many believe would be the Australian's final race.

In an otherwise incident-free race with only two retirements, no safety car was deployed, which was unusual for Singapore.

"On a weekend when we knew that we were going to struggle, to be P2 is a good achievement," said Verstappen after what amounted to a lonely race.

"Of course we are not happy with second. Now we just have to try and improve more and more and that's what we will try to do."

George Russell finished fourth for Mercedes, with Charles Leclerc a close fifth for Ferrari after starting ninth, and seven-time world winner Lewis Hamilton sixth for Mercedes.

Carlos Sainz, last year's winner, finished eighth for Ferrari, ahead of fellow Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Haas' Nico Hulkenberg, with Red Bull's Sergio Perez claiming the final point.

"Today was a total nightmare," declared Perez, who has scored only 144 points compared to Verstappen's 331 and has not been on the podium since China in April.

Ricciardo finished 18th and received no benefit from the fastest lap, as the point was only awarded to those in the top ten, but he could add another accomplishment to his record and assist his former teammate and friend Verstappen.

"Thank you, Daniel," the champion said over the team radio when he was told.

Norris made a clean start, the first time this season he had held the lead from pole, with Verstappen trailing behind.

The Briton then raced away with a succession of fastest laps, and by lap 13, he had a seven-second lead, two more than the target his race engineer had set six laps earlier to safeguard him during the pit stops.

Norris then extended the margin beyond the time it would take to pit.

Verstappen came in first on lap 29, and Norris followed one lap later without incident.

Behind them, Piastri made crucial overtakes, while Hamilton complained that Mercedes pitted him too early after he started third.

In his third race since replacing American Logan Sargeant, Williams rookie Franco Colapinto finished 11th, while teammate Alex Albon retired. Kevin Magnussen of Haas, who was returning from a one-race suspension, also came to a stop in the last laps.

SportsLigue