Helmut Marko astounded at ‘extraordinary’ Lando Norris feat amid Max Verstappen title battle

Follow us on Google Discover

Lando Norris dominated the Singapore Grand Prix, winning the race ahead of Max Verstappen at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

The British driver took his third win of the season, building on his victories in Miami and at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

McLaren have significantly improved over the year and are now the team to beat with six rounds to go this season.

They are leading the Constructors’ Championship and McLaren are favourites to win that title for the first time since 1998.

Norris has a chance to win the world championship this season, but needs to overturn a 52-point deficit over the final six race weekends.

The British driver drove superbly in Singapore, igniting his championship fight, although he made a series of errors on his way to victory.

Despite his mistakes and narrowly avoiding the wall, Helmut Marko was impressed his Norris’ driving as he pulled away from Verstappen.

Helmut Marko was surprised by the ‘extraordinary’ pace of Lando Norris is Singapore

Norris won the race by 20 seconds, leading from start to finish after storming to pole position in qualifying.

The McLaren looked much more compliant than the Red Bull and the rest of the field over the bumps, making it easier to drive.

READ MORE: Lando Norris snubs Lewis Hamilton with huge praise for rival F1 driver

The British team are hoping to make their car even faster with an expected upgrade package at the United States Grand Prix next time out.

Marko explained on the Formel1.de YouTube channel that even if the Red Bull had the perfect setup, Verstappen still wouldn’t have challenged for the lead.

He said: “The dominance of Lando Norris, which took us to lose a second a lap, is extraordinary. Even if our car had been optimised he wouldn’t have been able to drive these times on the medium and we’re all surprised.”

Max Verstappen is under increasing pressure to win his fourth F1 world championship

Verstappen has a comfortable lead over Norris, but Red Bull haven’t won a race since the Spanish Grand Prix in June.

A non-finish for the Dutchman would spark the championship fight into life in the final stages of the season.

Norris is becoming used to racing at the front of the field but needs to put together a run of consecutive wins to take the title battle to Abu Dhabi.

Red Bull and Verstappen are no longer the combination to beat, but the 26-year-old may have enough margin to get over the line.