Did Sainz intentionally let Norris inside DRS? 'He did make some mistakes'

The closing stages of the Singapore Grand Prix were a great battle for victory between Carlos Sainz, George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris. Sainz appeared to help Norris inside his DRS, allowing the Briton to act as a buffer, but the question is whether this was really intentional on Sainz's part. Norris has the answer.

It was a great race from Sainz in a weekend where he was strong every session. Starting from pole position, the Spaniard managed to get through the first lap and, with the help of teammate Charles Leclerc, dictated the gaps to the competition behind him. Sainz was also driving smart by slowing down in the closing stages and getting Norris into his DRS. This kept Norris ahead of the Mercedes of Russell and Hamilton, who were advancing hard and also had their eyes on victory.

Afterwards, Norris was asked to what extent he was deliberately helped out by Sainz. Norris: "He made a couple of mistakes. I think our pace was strong. So I think I would have caught up to him ever so slightly anyway. I think I would have gotten into DRS, but it was more when there was a gap when I was most under pressure from George. That's when he helped me out."

While there are doubts about how intentional it was that Sainz helped the Briton, in Norris' eyes, it was just as much help. He also knows Sainz was helping him to protect himself. The McLaren driver says: "I'm sure if I got overtaken, Carlos would have had a lot more stress too. But he drove a great race."