Nico Rosberg says he is “bewildered” by Lando Norris’ mistake as he held onto a big lead to win the Singapore Grand Prix.
Norris produced a stunning pace in his first stints to open up a gap of 25 seconds over the title rival Max Verstappen, but the McLaren driver clipped one of the road circuit barriers before the first stop and was lucky to avoid major damage.
In the second and final time in hot conditions at the Marina Bay Circuit, Norris was more fortunate to avoid disaster as he crashed into another barrier with his right rear tyre.
England also ran wide when trying to get around the back marker in the final stages, before eventually winning by more than 20 seconds.
He said in the latest episode of Sky Sports F1 Podcast2016 world champion Rosberg said: “It kind of baffled me a little bit what happened because he hit the wall twice.
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McLaren’s Lando Norris avoided crashing into the wall twice as he led the Singapore Grand Prix.
“Both of them were really tough, it was almost the last race when they were lucky enough not to be a DNF (did not finish).
“He came off the track at the hairpin, he braked out, but it wasn’t a small brake, it was like a big brake out.
“And the other time he hit the same wall as George Russell last year when he crashed in the last lap of the race.
“And what you don’t remember is that he went off the track again when he passed the back marker, which was Williams.
“So, there’s three times here. And that’s very strange.”
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Race highlights from the Singapore Grand Prix.
‘I don’t remember Max or Lewis making that mistake’
Norris’ victory reduced Verstappen’s Drivers’ Championship lead to 52 points with six rounds of the season remaining, boosting the Briton’s hopes of denying the Red Bull driver a fourth consecutive title.
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On the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, Nico Rosberg said the battle for the drivers’ championship could ‘go down to the wire’ between Max Verstappen and Lando Norris.
McLaren, who extended their Constructors’ Championship lead over Red Bull to 41 points, had a clear pace advantage over the last few months, but there were several occasions when Norris failed to make the most of the car’s points-scoring potential.
Rosberg added: “I can’t remember myself or Max Verstappen or Lewis (Hamilton), when leading comfortably by 30 seconds, making three major mistakes like that. It’s a bit strange.
“I know Singapore is very difficult, the concentration, the physicality, it’s very difficult, but I don’t know why there are so many (mistakes).
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On the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, Matt Gallagher and Nico Rosberg discuss whether the Singapore Grand Prix will be Daniel Ricciardo’s last race after the RB driver could be.
“But we know that Lando tends to make little mistakes everywhere.
“We have seen it from him and he has to finish if he wants to fight for the championship this year.”
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