Troubled Perez and heroic Hulkenberg

The original night race may not be an all-time classic, but Lando Norris won’t care and will walk away victorious.

Max Verstappen, who finished second in the race, completed the race with minimal damage, while Sergio Perez barely caught up with the points.

Driver ratings for the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix

Lando Norris – 9.5

All it takes is a few wall clips to reach a perfect 10. Say what you will about Miami – Norris has had dominant exhibitions in Zandvoort and Singapore.

Verstappen’s best chance was at the start, but the gap grew as Norris solved all his problems and pushed him out of the race.

It may have only taken seven points off Verstappen’s lead, but it was the manner in which the victory was won that made Norris a genuine contender.

Max Verstappen – 9

That was the best Verstappen could hope for as the papaya-white McLaren began to disappear over the horizon.

Verstappen’s best performance came in qualifying, where he pushed the RB20 higher than it deserved to be.

The positive thing Verstappen can take is that this track series is over and maybe he can now gain some momentum with the upgrade package coming to Austin.

Oscar Piastri – 9

A slightly lacklustre qualifying lap was rectified by some great race technique, keeping his tyres alive long enough to easily pass the Merc drivers and move him into the podium spots, but he failed to hold off Verstappen.

It’s not a victory, but it’s still a very impressive showing.

George Russell – 8.5

Despite starting behind, Russell achieved better results from both of Mercedes’ strategies and it was always clear he would pass Hamilton at some point.

I had some problems with the car towards the end of the race, but this year I managed to keep the car on the track.

Charles Leclerc – 8.5

He may have sworn at his race engineer more than once, but his tyre strategy led to a huge comeback from 9th place in qualifying.

A bad Saturday was always going to cost him and the car’s pace suggested a podium finish would have been possible had he started higher.

Lewis Hamilton – 8

It wouldn’t surprise me if there were some negative comments in the Mercedes evaluation room after the race on Sunday, as Hamilton was left disappointed by the strategy.

Why did they put him on used softs at the start? Why then did they pit him earlier than most? Strange calls and Hamilton did the best he could with the cars he was given.

Worse, he predicted his own downfall right after the break.

Carlos Sainz – 7.5

Like Leclerc, Sainz was someone who needed to work on a poor qualifying session but could not match his teammate’s success.

A poor start saw him drop down the standings and he was only just able to pass Alonso.

Fernando Alonso – 8

Driver or car? It’s hard to know for most teams when it comes to performance, but for Aston Martin the evidence suggests Alonso is perhaps achieving more than he should.

He was in a terrific battle with Hulkenberg and even looked like he was closing in on Sainz towards the end, not bad for a driver who went off the track on the first lap.

Nico Hulkenberg – 8.5

Another excellent weekend for Hulkenberg with a superb P6 in qualifying and a superb defence to secure ninth place. The race in Singapore was his sixth points finish of the year

Sergio Perez – 5

Yes, in the points, but to be tenth when your teammate is second. What more can you say about Perez? He is not consistently good enough and he showed that once again in Singapore.

Daniel Ricciardo is said to be axed from the team and is said to be contributing as many points as Perez to Red Bull’s challenge this weekend.

Franco Colapinto – 8

He made the most successful move of his career so far in the first round and managed to stay in the top 10. He missed out on a spot by one place.

Yuki Tsunoda-7.5

He was very angry that he couldn’t pass his teammate sooner, but once he did, he couldn’t get back on top of the line.

Tsunoda, who remains outside the top 10, has not scored any points since Hungary.

Esteban Ocon-6.5

He moved from 15th to 13th, but Ocon will now look on with envious eyes at Haas’ car.

Lance Walk – 5.5

A poor qualifying session left him struggling and the best he could recover was 14th.

More reactions from the Singapore Grand Prix

What did Lando Norris say to Max Verstappen in the waiting room in Singapore as Piastri entered the FIA?IP

Max Verstappen sends ‘thanks Daniel’ message after securing major title shot in F1’s last possible fight

Zhou Guanyu-5.5

If this is Ricciardo’s last race, Zhou’s seems to be right behind him. Yes, the car isn’t great, but that’s often forgotten when looking at the results.

Another race where you forget the drivers even exist.

Valtteri Bottas – 5.5

You’re running out of ways to say the stakes drivers were slow, but the stakes drivers were slow. Bottas did his best, but it wasn’t much.

Pierre Gasly – 5.5

Put this in the “races to forget” category. No pace in the car and no points for Pierre.

Daniel Ricciardo – 5.5

He may have won the Driver of the Day vote but, all sympathy aside, it wasn’t a great final drive for Ricciardo if that’s what it came down to.

It was a disappointing qualifying session with not a lot of positives, but at least he set the fastest lap.

He didn’t finish

Kevin Magnussen – 6

The blood and thunder comeback we were hoping for did not happen when Kevin Magnussen retired from the race with a flat tire on lap 57.

Alex Albon – 6

After being hit by what was described by a teammate as a “dive bomb”, something got lodged in the air duct, causing the power unit to overheat.

Read the next article: Daniel Ricciardo admits Red Bull’s F1 exit is “realistic” but “fairytale ending” is not happening