F1 News
Brundle suggests Norris has managed to 'banish his F1 demon'
Martin Brundle believes Lando Norris has "banished the demon". The McLaren driver has struggled off the line during the 2024 Formula 1 season, and it has arguably cost him at least one race win. But the Brit got off the line well and finally maintained the lead from pole position during his opening lap.
Before the Singapore Grand Prix, Lando Norris had started from pole position four times in 2024. The Brit never held the lead by the end of the first lap. For example, Oscar Piastri beat him to the first corner in Hungary. He survived the opening chicane in Monza, but Piastri forced his way through later in the lap. This opened the door for Charles Leclerc to follow, and the Ferrari driver eventually won the race.
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Norris takes advantage of his pole in Singapore
In Singapore, Norris had his rival Max Verstappen breathing down his neck. He launched off the line quickly, and Verstappen couldn't even take a lunge at turn one. He then broke the DRS almost immediately and never looked back. Everything was neat and tidy. Brundle expects Norris to benefit from this for the rest of the season.
"Lando has certainly banished the demon of poor starts and failing to lead at the end of the first lap from his previous five pole positions," Brundle said in his Sky Sports column before highlighting how lucky Norris was at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
"From time-to-time Norris has been unlucky in his F1 career, things haven't always fallen his way, but he had some lucky payback on Sunday evening. A locked brake took him gently into the tyre wall at one point, but it was soft enough not to damage his front wing or drag the car into the barriers. That was a very close call. Later on, he would clip the same wall jutting out on the approach to turn 10 which destroyed George Russell's car and race last year. A couple more centimetres the wrong way and Norris' race would have been over," Brundle added.