F1 News
Horner brands Norris a "lucky bastard" after the Singapore Grand Prix
Christian Horner has called Lando Norris a "lucky bastard" for getting away with hitting the barrier twice en route to winning the Singapore Grand Prix. The McLaren driver dominated the race itself and cut the deficit to Max Verstappen in the World Championship to 52 points with six races remaining.
If you just looked at the race clarification, you'd expect it would've been a comfortable win for Norris at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, and it really should've been. Norris was unchallenged by the drivers and won by nearly 21 seconds. At one point, Norris led by almost half a minute. But it wasn't all plain sailing for the British driver.
Norris had two moments of panic in the streets of Singapore. He first locked up and brushed his front wing against the barrier. He feared he had caused some front wing damage, but his race engineer, Will Joseph, said it was nothing to worry about. Several laps later, Norris hit the barrier with the right side of his car, reminiscent of George Russell's 2023 crash at the same venue. Norris again avoided damage. Kevin Magnussen wasn't as lucky when he brushed the barrier. The Haas driver picked up a puncture and subsequently retired.
"That was just to tell him [Norris] that he was a lucky bastard. Hitting the wall once is usually a wake-up call. To hit it twice, somebody's smiling on you," Horner reflected on the moment after the race.
Did Norris pick up damage in Singapore?
"I don't think so. The team said that there was something with the front wing maybe being a little bit off. I hit the front wing against the barrier, so it might have tweaked it a touch, but probably not much. It's hard to know on these cars. As soon as you tweak something, a tiny bit, it can have quite a big impact, but nothing that I was probably feeling," Norris explained about his first moment.
Norris' lead over Verstappen was reduced in the final part of the race and Norris explained why. "I was pushing, but also I was catching up to the dirty air from the cars ahead. You have a little bit less grip, a little bit less downforce, the tyres are going away a little bit. It just caught me out. So it wasn't like a lack of concentration or anything. It was just a bit of a surprise to me. I think the car was all good and the car's been mega all weekend," he concluded.