Lando Norris allowed a potential Singapore Grand Prix podium to slip away when his battle with Lewis Hamilton drew him into a costly braking mistake, according to former Formula 1 driver Jolyon Palmer. The error enabled Kimi Antonelli to capitalise and claim third place at Marina Bay after Hamilton’s unusual Ferrari strategy had created a late opportunity for McLaren.
Palmer believes the incident added to a difficult sequence of weekends for Norris, whose Singapore event had already been overshadowed by his collision with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri during Saturday’s Sprint. Norris ultimately finished the Grand Prix fourth, with Piastri following him home in fifth.
Lewis Hamilton gives Lando Norris a late Singapore podium opportunity
Norris had not appeared certain to fight for the podium until the closing stages of the 62-lap race. Lewis Hamilton had chosen to remain on track rather than follow Ferrari’s intended strategy during the Virtual Safety Car period, leaving the seven-time world champion attempting to complete a one-stop race on heavily worn C5 Soft tyres.
The decision eventually left Hamilton vulnerable. Ferrari team-mate Charles Leclerc had taken the opportunity to stop, while the Briton continued on an increasingly difficult tyre stint. The circumstances surrounding that decision and the eventual loss of Ferrari’s podium position are examined in more detail in our analysis of why Lewis Hamilton stayed out during the Singapore Grand Prix.
By lap 54, Norris had caught the Ferrari and was in position to attack for third place. Hamilton attempted to defend into Turn 1, but both drivers went too deep under braking and failed to keep their cars on the normal racing line.
Jolyon Palmer believes Norris was drawn into Hamilton’s braking error
Palmer’s assessment was that Norris had effectively been tempted into braking too late by Hamilton’s defensive move. Rather than simply allowing the struggling Ferrari to run deep, the McLaren driver followed Hamilton into the corner and compromised his own exit.
The mistake immediately brought Kimi Antonelli into play. With Norris having collected dirt on his Medium C4 tyres after going off line, the Mercedes driver was able to capitalise on the exit and take the position. Antonelli went on to finish third, 15.933 seconds ahead of Norris.
The sequence proved particularly costly because Hamilton’s deteriorating tyres had opened a genuine opportunity for Norris to reach the podium. Instead, the battle between the two British drivers ultimately worked in Antonelli’s favour. A wider look at the tyre and strategy differences between Ferrari and its rivals can be found in our Singapore Grand Prix race analysis.
Norris’s difficult Singapore weekend began with Oscar Piastri collision
Palmer also placed the Grand Prix error in the context of what he considered a continuing run of untidy weekends for Norris. The McLaren driver had already attracted attention one day earlier after colliding with Oscar Piastri on the final lap of the Singapore Sprint.
Norris was attempting to take fourth place when he made contact with his team-mate exiting Turn 5, sending Piastri into the wall. Norris dropped to eighth following the incident, while Piastri failed to finish.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella were described as furious after the collision, with Brown reportedly particularly angry about what had happened between the team’s two drivers.
Palmer considered the Sprint contact to be closer to a racing incident, in line with the stewards’ assessment, but still viewed Norris’s attempted move as carrying considerable risk for relatively limited potential reward.
Palmer sees another missed opportunity for Lando Norris
The former Renault driver felt Norris’s Sunday performance had otherwise been solid before the decisive Turn 1 moment. In Palmer’s view, the McLaren driver’s attempt to pass Hamilton became the turning point because he was drawn into matching the Ferrari driver’s excessively late braking point.
It was another unusual conclusion to a Singapore race in which Ferrari’s strategy played a major role in reshaping the podium battle. Hamilton had initially been in contention for a top-three finish before his extended Soft-tyre stint unravelled, while Norris was unable to take advantage when the opportunity finally arrived.
Palmer has also scrutinised Ferrari’s decision-making during the same race, including the communication between Hamilton and race engineer Carlo Santi before the crucial strategy call. That separate issue is explored in our report on Palmer’s concerns over Ferrari’s radio communication with Lewis Hamilton.
For Norris, the outcome was a fourth-place finish rather than the podium that had briefly become available. Antonelli needed no second invitation when the McLaren driver’s attack went wrong, turning the Turn 1 mistake into third place at Marina Bay.
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