Lando Norris finally broke free from his streak of poor starts, securing a commanding victory at the Singapore Grand Prix after retaining his pole position—something he hadn’t been able to do in seven prior instances. Norris led from the front and extended his advantage to a 20-second winning margin, marking a decisive turnaround in his first-lap fortunes.
Norris’ struggles from pole position had haunted him since his maiden pole at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix. This season alone, poor starts saw him squander potential victories at the Spanish and Hungarian Grands Prix, while he also slipped back during the China Sprint race. A notable example occurred in Zandvoort, where Max Verstappen passed him early on, although McLaren’s superior pace nullified the impact.
Despite these setbacks, McLaren has been adamant that no single issue was responsible for Norris’ poor starts. Team principal Andrea Stella explained that after conducting an in-depth analysis, the team concluded that there wasn’t a clear, recurring problem.
“We’ve gone through every single start and first lap this season,” Stella said. “In fairness, we didn’t find that Lando had given up very much in terms of performance, even when he didn’t finish the first lap in P1.”
For instance, Stella pointed out that in Barcelona, even if Norris had made a different move, George Russell would likely have overtaken him. He also mentioned Zandvoort, where both McLaren cars suffered from cold tires due to a team error, impacting their starts.
While the team didn’t identify a definitive problem, Stella acknowledged that Norris’ growing experience in leading races had been crucial to his improvement. The Briton has been focusing more on his start execution and positioning his car defensively to fend off attacks from rivals.
“You gain confidence and familiarity with starting from pole,” Stella said. “Lando is now understanding how to position his car to dissuade competitors from challenging for the lead.”
Norris’ dominant Singapore win is a testament to his progress and McLaren’s meticulous approach to addressing past challenges. With his pole-position curse seemingly lifted, Norris is looking more poised than ever to convert future front-row starts into victories.
McLaren now has its sights set on bigger goals, with Norris’ newfound racecraft being a key asset in their mission.
