Norris Sharpens His Teeth Against a Wounded Verstappen

Lando Norris has a golden opportunity or a precipice ahead. The disappointment of last weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where his result was compromised on Saturday, has given him extra strength for a battle in which it will be very difficult for Max Verstappen to compete.

The current leader (and who will remain so on Sunday, no matter what happens) is in the most challenging moment of the season. His swearing and cursing on the radio have earned him a penalty from the FIA, which, given past precedents, will likely amount to nothing (as happened when he roughly pushed Esteban Ocon years ago). This frustration suggests that Red Bull is no longer the reference car on the grid; instead, it’s McLaren. If the RB20 had asymmetric braking issues, now it's the flexing of the rear wing where the MCL38 has its 'trick'. The FIA, which had declared it legal according to their tests a few days ago, has accepted video evidence and, at Red Bull's request, warned McLaren they will be excluded if the upper part of the rear wing flexes again.

Beyond the tricks sought by all engineers, Friday's free practice session at the Singapore Grand Prix left several notable images, such as George Russell crashing (which is quite predictable on this circuit) or an unexpected Yuki Tsunoda in fourth position, with his teammate Daniel Ricciardo in sixth. At a time when Red Bull can least afford to have more cars ahead of them, now their junior team surpassing them is the last thing they needed.

The performance of Sergio Pérez (eighth) and Max Verstappen (fifteenth) is far from where it was expected. The car is nervous and has lost that magic that seemed to guide it on rails on every circuit, whether it was a winding urban track like Baku or Marina Bay or a fast one like Monza or Spa. The feeling that the dominant cars are no longer dominant is opening doors for several candidates, with Carlos Sainz and especially Charles Leclerc having much to say.

The Spaniard finished Friday with the third-fastest time but six-tenths behind Norris. Much closer was Leclerc, who, fired up and on a roll from his recent results, wants to capitalize on the doubts of the Briton and Oscar Piastri (fifth), who after his victory last Sunday had a serious scare by touching the wall at turn 17 and risking damage. This is something that happened to Russell right at the end when he left his front wing at turn 8. Occupational hazards, especially on a Friday practice session in Singapore.

The general feeling around Aston Martin is that until Adrian Newey gets involved, this car is just a good tractor. The drivers' job is to bring the green cars home as high as possible, something that is sometimes more complicated than it seems.

Proof of this was Fernando Alonso's scare in the morning. As he exited turn 14, the AMR24 threw him off balance at the rear and he had to correct with a violent steering maneuver and all possible buttons... literally. "Fernando, confirm you pressed the pit lane limiter button," his engineer asked. "I pressed all possible buttons to avoid crashing," admitted Alonso with some humor and still shaken by the scare.

It was quite a demonstration of the Golgotha he will have to climb this weekend. "It's going to be difficult. I think we don't have too many strong points in the car right now, and on this circuit some of those things we lack in the car are crucial, like traction," resigned Alonso. Even so, no one should forget that in Baku they also struggled and ended up securing a sixth place that felt like gold.