Norris wins Singapore GP ahead of Verstappen

A lead of more than 20 seconds after 62 sweaty laps at the Singapore Grand Prix says a lot about Lando Norris’ third Formula 1 victory. The Briton has reduced his deficit in the overall standings to Max Verstappen to 52 points with six races still to go. It could be a close call for the Dutchman.

World champion Verstappen was able to enjoy some help from Daniel Ricciardo, who snatched the extra point for the fastest lap from Norris shortly before the end. The Australian from the sister team Racing Bulls will probably have to give up his place to New Zealander Liam Lawson.

Defending champion Verstappen is also likely to be pleased with the general improvement in performance at Red Bull; after his second place, he spoke of a “turnaround”. When the race continues in Austin in four weeks, his car will get a new underbody and McLaren will no longer be allowed to use its flexible rear wing.

The crucial question, however, is whether his friend and pursuer Norris can keep his nerve. Despite driving alone from pole position, Norris almost crashed his car into the walls twice. In the constructors’ championship, however, McLaren has extended its lead over Red Bull to 41 points thanks to an additional third place from Oscar Piastri.

«We are not rappers»

Verstappen’s friends also experienced a moment of shock of a different kind when he started to make one of his infamous complaining radio messages in the middle of the race. He usually uses vocabulary that is not suitable for young people. This time, however, he limited his criticism of the strategy to a simple “stupid”. This rather gentle approach, by his standards, has a history.

Whenever Mohammed Ben Sulayem wants to enforce more law and order in Formula 1, he is concerned about respect. Above all, respect for his own office as President of the International Automobile Federation (FIA). Ben Sulayem has already intervened in matters of dress code and political freedom of speech, and also wanted to interfere in finances. All of these efforts had one thing in common: they backfired for the Emirati. This time too, the 62-year-old seems to have overshot the mark with a gag order.

Before the 18th World Championship race, the official had asked the racing drivers in an interview to curse less over the pit radio, as these radio messages were being broadcast by television stations and picked up on social networks. But motorsports has a role model function. The key sentence of the sermon: “Rappers use the F-word several times a minute. But we’re not rappers.”

World champion Verstappen was the first to be sentenced to do community service hours before the race. His offence: in the official media round, the Red Bull driver had simply complained about his racing car and used the taboo word. The commissioners tried to justify the use of the English swear word by referring to paragraph 12.2.1k of the Sporting Code: damaging the values ​​of the FIA ​​and the reputation of motorsport.

Formula 1 walks the fine line between sport and show

The whole thing sounds like a farce, but Verstappen took immediate action. In the media round where he made the comment, he appealed to the moderator: “What are we, five or six-year-olds? In other sports, too, people swear when they’re full of adrenaline. It’s just that it’s not broadcast there.” Recently in Baku, he turned the directional microphone of a Netflix team to the side that wanted to eavesdrop on a group of racing drivers standing together. The successful documentary series “Drive to Survive” thrives on such recordings.

This is the real crux of the heated debate: Formula 1, under Liberty Media, is balancing on the fine line between show and sport. Many races are made more interesting for television viewers by repeatedly playing audio snippets from the pit radio with a time delay. Often informative, mostly simply entertaining. And of course often anything but politically correct. After all, they are athletes, not actors.

Ben Sulayem’s appeal should therefore be directed primarily at the TV stations. But they will refuse to give up this expensive material. Especially since all really critical terms are faded out with a beep anyway, so the alleged danger to children in front of the television does not really exist.

Hamilton finds the punishment a “joke”

To make a statement, Max Verstappen remained monosyllabic during his mandatory appearance before the media on Saturday after his second place in qualifying. He ironically pointed out that he had to protect his voice. However, outside the area controlled by the FIA, he then gave interviews: “I find what is happening there ridiculous. Apparently you can get a penalty quickly here. Why should I give full answers?”

Norris and Lewis Hamilton, who were sitting next to Verstappen, immediately expressed their solidarity with their colleague. Norris could not “understand” the punishment, Hamilton spoke of a “joke” and recommended that Verstappen not do the hours: “I certainly wouldn’t do it.” Hamilton had previously accused the FIA ​​president of latent racism in his choice of words, since most rappers are black.

Verstappen’s rival Norris practically begged for motorsport not to be stripped of its emotions, however raw they may sometimes seem. He is right in saying this, because it is these emotions that make the men in the cockpit tangible while they are doing their work. Sport can never be better than society anyway, and the always slightly over-the-top premier class certainly cannot be.