Max second in Grand Prix Singapore: 'My race was just by myself'

Published on 22 September 2024 by Florence Cobben

Max Verstappen finished second place in the Singapore Grand Prix. On the Marina Bay Street, Max spent most of his race at a long distance behind Lando Norris, who took first place. McLaren-teammate Oscar Piastri finished in third, completing the top three. 

"That was pretty much my race, just by myself. I tried to do the best I could, tried to manage my own pace till the end. I think the first stint was a bit difficult for us, quite a bit of tyre degradation. The second stint was a bit better, I was a bit more comfortable as well. On a weekend where we knew we were going to struggle to be P2, it's a good acheivement. Of course we're not happy with second, now we just have to try and improve more and more, and that's what we'll do", Max explains after the race. Regarding second place, Max elaborates: "Of course you'd rather win, but this circuit doesn't suit us. I think that in general McLaren is stronger, so P2 is the maximum we could acheive, since we did keep one of the two cars behind."

Max also says he suffered from tyre degradation, "and mostly on the hind-tyres. So then it's difficult to attack the turns, going in and out of the turns, you lose speed. I lost a lot of time that way, and then the hobbles and curbstones also chip away at your progress."

Once the red starting lights turned off, the top six got away cleanly with everyone protecting their starting position. Nico Hulkenberg temporarily gets ahead of Oscar Piastri's McLaren, but a couple of turns later Piastri reclaims fifth. Max prioritizes defending against Hamilton, one of the only drivers starting on softs, and so completes lap one having kept second place. Oracle Red Bull Racing-teammate Sergio Perez also has a good start, jumping from P13 to tenth. 

In lap 11, it's Daniel Ricciardo who is the first to go in for a pitstop. He switches to mediums. Even later Alexander Albon also heads into the pits, attempting to undercut Carlos Sainz. The tactic almost works, but Sainz comes out just ahead as Albon leaves the pits. The Thai's race lasts only two more rounds, as Albon has to retire in lap seventeen; his car was victim to overheating.

Hamilton is the first of the top five to head in, switching to a hard tyre in the hopes of lasting to the rest of the race. Hamilton returns to the track in P13. In the following laps he struggles to find pace in the car, and even overshoots when trying to pass Yuki Tsunoda. Hamilton's difficulties serve George Russell, who gets ahead of his teammate after his pitstop. 

Max heads into the pits in lap thirty. His pitstop take 3 seconds, putting him behind Leclerc on P4. In the same lap, Max passes the Ferrari-driver, driving into third place. A lap later, Norris goes into the pits. He shares via the team radio that he hit the wall and needs his front wing checked, but in the end the wing doesn't need to be changed. Norris returns to the track, still in first place. A couple of laps later Leclerc and Piastri also head into the pits. Leclerc returns to the track in eighth position and Piastri returns in P5, behind the Mercedes' of Russell and Hamilton. Piastri is a lot faster than Hamilton, and passes him in lap 41. 

With just twenty laps to go, Lando Norris is 24 seconds ahead of Max. The Dutchman in turn has a seventeen seconds lead on number three Russell, who is being hounded by Oscar PIastri. Hamilton completes the top five, ahead of  Leclerc and Sainz's Ferraris. 

Piastri and Leclerc are making the most of their tyre advantage, and so Piastri passes Russell for third, and Leclerc passes Hamilton. Both don't gain positions after that, even as Leclerc manages to gain on Russell. At the checkered flag, it's Norris that crosses the line first, claiming his third win. Max finishes in second, claiming 21 points, as Piastri doesn't manage to close in on the world champion. Russell and Leclerc complete the top five. The fastest lap goes to Daniel Ricciardo, who switched to softs on a late pitstop, taking a point from Norris. Ricciardo himself won't get the point, as he finishes outside the top ten. 

Results Grand Prix Singapore: