Lando Norris was unable to capitalise on Red Bull’s struggles at the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend, with Carlos Sainz having taken the chance to become the first non-Red Bull winner this season.
Starting from fourth, Norris had a great chance at claiming his first Formula 1 victory, something he would’ve claimed at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix if it wasn’t for a poor strategic decision when late rain fell in Sochi.
The McLaren driver remained amongst the frontrunners for the entire race and moved into third following his only pit-stop.
Third became second when George Russell pitted for a second time, leaving Norris with plenty of laps to try and attack Sainz.
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Unfortunately, overtaking proved just too difficult at the Marina Bay Circuit, ending the British driver’s hopes of a first F1 victory.
Red Bull enduring bad weekends is something which hasn’t happened very often since the new aerodynamic regulations were introduced last season, with the expectation being that they’ll be back to the front this weekend at the Japanese Grand Prix.
As a result, Norris recognises that he might have lost his only opportunity to win a Grand Prix this year.
If it wasn’t for Red Bull, Norris would’ve actually won at Silverstone and at the Hungaroring, two venues where he finished second.
However, with the fight behind Red Bull being so close, there were three teams fighting for victory in Singapore.
Norris thinks “it’s great” that so many teams are performing at a similar level, although he admits that he “dreamed” of winning last weekend amid Red Bull’s woes.
“If Red Bull weren’t here, then I’d have had two race wins already,” Norris said in the post-race drivers’ press conference, as reported by Sky Sports F1.
“I think there has always been great battles for the ‘best of the rest’ pack.
“Best of the rest, I would say is not just us [Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes] – I don’t think Aston Martin are far behind.
“I think it’s great – often if you didn’t have the best team there, the best team always seems to be dominant and take away the show from the rest of it.
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“If you took away Mercedes a few years ago and Red Bull now, the battle for the rest of the positions is incredible.
“Many different winners every single race, every season, and even for us this year – if we could compete a bit more against Red Bull, Mercedes would have won, Ferrari would have won, we would have won in Silverstone and Budapest.
“I have dreamed of it a little bit, but I’m sure, like Carlos said, they’re [Red Bull] going to be back on track next week.”