Lando Norris cruises to victory at Singapore Grand Prix to cut Max Verstappen's F1 lead

SINGAPORE (AP) — Lando Norris survived a couple of brushes with barriers as he won the Singapore Grand Prix with ease and cut into Max Verstappen's Formula 1 standings lead Sunday.

Norris started on pole position ahead of Verstappen and steadily built a large lead for his third career win. All have come this year.

From now on, though, the title is no longer entirely in Norris' hands. Even if he wins every remaining race, second place in each would be enough for Verstappen to retain the title.

Norris started on pole position for the sixth time in his career and, for a driver with a tendency to lose places off the grid this season, had an unusually drama-free start. It was the first time Norris has won from pole without losing a place on the first lap.

There were two brief moments of jeopardy when the McLaren driver first locked his brakes and touched the barriers, prompting concern he'd damaged the front wing, and later when a rear tire brushed another but Norris seemed largely unaffected as he cruised to the win.

“It was an amazing race. A few too many close calls,” Norris said. "It’s not that you’re necessarily over-pushing. Sometimes it can be that you’re just chilling too much. Maybe it’s a bit of both. I don’t know what it is, but it’s tricky."

With such a big lead, staying focused was one of Norris’ challenges. Races in Singapore have a habit of turning on strategy calls, or if a crash brings out the safety car and brings the cars back together. Norris had to stay alert but there was no safety car — a first in Singapore.

Verstappen came in second for Red Bull after a race that was largely uneventful after he held off Lewis Hamilton into the first corner at the start.

Oscar Piastri, the winner for McLaren in Azerbaijan last week, moved up from fifth on the grid to finish third after passing Mercedes' Hamilton and later George Russell for the final podium place.

Verstappen seemed relaxed Sunday, holding onto second and minimizing the damage to his lead, which was trimmed from 59 to 52 points.

“I think on a weekend where we knew that we were going to struggle, to be P2 is a good achievement. Of course we’re not happy with second,” Verstappen said. “Now we just have to try and improve more and more and that’s what we’ll try to do.”

Six rounds of the championship remain, starting with the United States Grand Prix next month, and three of those offer extra points with sprint races.

If Norris earns maximum points in every one of those nine events, including the bonus point for fastest lap, and Verstappen finishes second in each, then Norris would cut the gap by only 51 points — finishing one behind Verstappen, who hasn't won since June.

That state of play is partly thanks to Daniel Ricciardo, whose place in F1 with Red Bull’s second team RB could be under threat. The Australian made a small but potentially vital intervention in the championship fight Sunday.

Ricciardo stopped for fresh tires late on and set the fastest lap of the race on his way to finishing 18th. That deprived Norris of the extra point for fastest lap that he seemed set to secure.

“Thank you, Daniel,” Verstappen said over the radio.

Russell was fourth, ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, while seven-time champion Hamilton had to settle for sixth after Mercedes' strategy left him on older tires than his rivals at the end of the race.

Carlos Sainz Jr. was seventh for Ferrari after crashing in qualifying, with Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin eighth and Haas' Nico Hulkenberg ninth.

Tenth place was all Sergio Perez could manage in a season where he has frequently struggled to match the pace of his Red Bull teammate Verstappen.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain stands on his car as he celebrates after winning the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Singapore, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain is congratulated by teammate Oscar Piastri, left, of Australia after winning the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Singapore, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands reacts after his second place finish in the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Singapore, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain reacts on the podium after winning the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Singapore, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands steers his car during the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Singapore, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain of leaves pit lane during the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Singapore, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (Mohd Rasfan/Pool Photo via AP)

McLaren driver Lando Norris, left, of Britain leads Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands into turn one at the start of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Singapore, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain steers his car during the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Singapore, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

NAHARIYA, Israel (AP) — Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets early Sunday across northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa, as Israel launched hundreds of strikes on Lebanon. A Hezbollah leader declared an “open-ended battle” was underway as both sides appeared to be spiraling closer toward all-out war.

The overnight rocket barrage was in response to Israeli attacks in Lebanon that have killed dozens, including a veteran Hezbollah commander, and an unprecedented attack targeting the group’s communications devices. Air raid sirens across northern Israel sent hundreds of thousands of people scrambling into shelters.

One struck near a residential building in Kiryat Bialik, a city near Haifa, wounding at least three people and setting buildings and cars ablaze. Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said four people were wounded.

Avi Vazana raced to a shelter with his wife and 9-month-old baby before he heard the rocket hitting. Then he went back outside to see if anyone was hurt.

“I ran without shoes, without a shirt, only with pants. I ran to this house when everything was still on fire to try to find if there are other people,” he said.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said three people were killed and four wounded in Israeli strikes near the border, without saying whether they were civilians or combatants.

The rocket attacks followed an Israeli airstrike Friday in Beirut killed at least 45 people, including Akil, one of Hezbollah’s top leaders, several other fighters, and women and children.

Hezbollah was already reeling from a sophisticated attack that caused thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies to explode just days earlier. But it faces a difficult balance of stretching the rules of engagement by hitting deeper into Israel, while at the same time trying to avoid large-scale attacks on civilian areas and infrastructure that could trigger a full-scale war that it would rather not start and take the blame for.

Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Kassem said Sunday's rocket attack was just the beginning of what’s now an ″open-ended battle” with Israel.

“We admit that we are pained. We are humans. But as we are pained — you will also be pained,” Kassem said at the funeral of top Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil. He vowed Hezbollah will continue military operations against Israel in support of Gaza but also warned of unexpected attacks “from outside the box,” pointing to rockets fired deeper into Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would take whatever action was necessary to restore security in the north and allow people to return to their homes.

“No country can accept the wanton rocketing of its cities. We can’t accept it either,” he said.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby remained hopeful for a peaceful resolution, telling “Fox News Sunday” the U.S. has been “involved in extensive and quite assertive diplomacy."

“We are watching all these escalating tensions that have been occurring over the last week or so, with great concern, and we want to make sure that we can continue to do everything we can to try to prevent this from becoming an all-out war there with Hezbollah across that Lebanese border," he said.

The Israeli military said it struck about 400 militant sites, including rocket launchers, across southern Lebanon in the past 24 hours, thwarting an even larger attack.

“Hundreds of thousands of civilians have come under fire across a lot of northern Israel,” said Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani. "Today we saw fire that was deeper into Israel than before.”

The military also said it intercepted multiple aerial devices fired from the direction of Iraq, after Iran-backed militant groups there claimed to have launched a drone attack on Israel.

School was canceled across northern Israel, and the Health Ministry said all hospitals in the north would begin moving operations to protected areas within the medical centers.

Separately, Israeli forces raided the West Bank bureau of Al-Jazeera, which it had banned earlier this year, accusing it of serving as a mouthpiece for militant groups, allegations denied by the pan-Arab broadcaster.

Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire since the outbreak of the war in Gaza nearly a year ago, when the militant group began firing rockets in solidarity with the Palestinians and its fellow Iran-backed ally Hamas. The low-level fighting has killed dozens of people in Israel, hundreds in Lebanon, and displaced tens of thousands on both sides of the frontier.

Until recently, neither side was believed to be seeking an all-out war, and Hezbollah has so far stopped short of targeting Tel Aviv or major civilian infrastructure. But in recent weeks, Israel has shifted its focus from Gaza to Lebanon. Hezbollah has said it would only halt its attacks if the war in Gaza ends, as a cease-fire there appears increasingly elusive.

The war in Gaza began with Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel, in which Palestinian militants killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 others hostage. They are still holding about 100 captives, a third of whom are believed to be dead. Over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It doesn't say how many were fighters, but says women and children make up more than half of the dead.

“With the region on the brink of an imminent catastrophe, it cannot be overstated enough: there is NO military solution that will make either side safer,” Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the U.N. envoy for Lebanon, said in an X post.

Families of Israeli hostages and residents of Gaza expressed fears the fighting in Lebanon will direct international attention from their own plights.

“I’m incredibly concerned with the increased tensions with Hezbollah because, my biggest concern is that, all the public’s attention and the world’s attention” would be distracted, said Udi Goren, a relative of Tal Haimi, an Israeli man who was killed Oct. 7 and whose body was taken into Gaza.

Enas Kollab, a Palestinian displaced from Gaza, voiced similar fears. “We are afraid that the situation in Lebanon will affect us -- that all attention will turn to Lebanon and we will become forgotten,” she said.

Hezbollah said it had launched dozens of Fadi 1 and Fadi 2 missiles — a new weapon the group hadn't used before — at the Ramat David airbase, southeast of Haifa, “in response to the repeated Israeli attacks that targeted various Lebanese regions and led to the fall of many civilian martyrs.”

In July, the group released what it said was video it had taken of the base with surveillance drones.

Hezbollah also said it had targeted the facilities of the Rafael defense firm, headquartered in Haifa, calling it retaliation for the wireless devices attack. It didn't provide evidence, and the Israeli military declined to comment on the statement.

Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate for a wave of explosions that hit pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah members on Tuesday and Wednesday, killing at least 37 people — including two children — and wounding about 3,000. The attacks were widely blamed on Israel, which hasn't confirmed or denied responsibility.

An Israeli airstrike Friday took down an eight-story building in a densely populated neighborhood in Beirut’s southern suburbs as Hezbollah members met in the basement, according to Israel. Among those killed was Akil., who commanded the group's special forces unit.

Kareem Chehayeb reported from Beirut. Moshe Edri in Kiryat Bialik; Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip; and Shlomo Mor in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed.

Follow AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Hezbollah supporters march behind the hearse carrying the coffins of Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil and militant Mahmoud Hamad during their funeral procession in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Hezbollah supporters carry pictures of Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil, right, and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, centre, during Akil's funeral procession in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Hezbollah members carry the coffin of Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil during the funeral procession in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Hezbollah members salute near the coffin of Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil during the funeral procession in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Hezbollah members carry the coffin of Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil during the funeral procession in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People look at the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Moreshet, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo//Ariel Schalit)

A man looks at a house hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Moreshet, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo//Ariel Schalit)

Lebanese soldiers stand guard near the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A man walks with a suitcase as Lebanese soldiers drive near the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Lebanese soldiers drive near the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A woman walks past a house hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Moreshet, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo//Ariel Schalit)

Lebanese soldiers stand guard near the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

An Israeli police officer examines the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo//Ariel Schalit)

Municipality workers hang an Israeli flag over a damaged building that was hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo//Ariel Schalit)

Municipality workers hang an Israeli flag over a damaged building that was hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo//Ariel Schalit)

Israeli security forces work at a house hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo//Ariel Schalit)

People look at the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo//Ariel Schalit)

Israeli security forces work at the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Gil Nechushtan)

Israeli security and rescue forces work at the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Gil Nechushtan)

Israeli security and rescue forces work at the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Gil Nechushtan)

Israeli security and rescue forces work at the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Gil Nechushtan)

A man looks at the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo//Ariel Schalit)

Israeli security forces examine the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo//Ariel Schalit)

Israeli security forces examine the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo//Ariel Schalit)

Israeli security forces examine the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo//Ariel Schalit)

Israeli security forces examine the site hit by a rocket fired from Lebanon, in Kiryat Bialik, northern Israel, on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo//Ariel Schalit)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)