McLaren and Lando Norris seek to pressure Red Bull in F1's Singapore Grand Prix

McLaren is ahead of Red Bull in the Formula 1 constructors' race. Now for Lando Norris to put pressure on Max Verstappen for the drivers' title.

Oscar Piastri's win last week at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix put McLaren top in the teams' standings — the key to F1's lavish prize money — but teammate Norris only took a small bite out of Verstappen's lead.

After starting 15th, Norris passed Verstappen late in the race to finish fourth, but the Dutch driver still leads by 59 points heading into the Singapore Grand Prix.

The talk in F1 this week has focused on McLaren's seemingly flexible rear wing, which might help at high speed. Piastri said Thursday it's legal and isn't a “magic bullet” for their recent success.

F1 looks wide open right now with Ferrari and Mercedes both fighting for wins. McLaren will still have to battle hard even if Red Bull isn't on the pace at a track where Verstappen has never won.

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc was fastest in the first practice on Friday, but only by .076 seconds from Norris. Carlos Sainz Jr. was third-fastest in the other Ferrari, and Verstappen fourth.

Piastri is the on-form driver in recent races, but in only his second season, he's heading into a late-season swing of tracks like Singapore that he doesn't know well. The Australian confirmed Thursday he'll still help out Norris' title challenge where he can.

"There’s still going to be some tough races in the latter part of the year on tracks that I’ve only been to once," Piastri said. “I feel like I’m improving a lot as I go through my career, but I’m certainly not the finished product yet.”

Singapore was the only track where Red Bull didn't win last year. The team couldn't find a competitive setup and Verstappen was far off the pace all weekend as Ferrari's Carlos Sainz Jr. took the victory.

Red Bull left Azerbaijan with some optimism that it's fixed at least some of the balance problems introduced by its attempts to upgrade the car this season. Verstappen — now without a win in seven races — wasn't happy with the car in Baku but emphasized it was a mistaken setup choice, not the underlying performance.

Singapore is slower than Baku and a trickier track for Red Bull, though.

“Our car generally is not very good on bumps and curbs and that’s of course what you have around here, so we need to try to stabilize that a bit,” Verstappen said Thursday in Singapore.

Street circuits tend to suit Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez, who was fast in Baku in search of a podium finish since April. Colliding with Sainz meant all those efforts were for nothing, though.

After Singapore, Red Bull and its second team RB are expected to choose whether to keep Daniel Ricciardo at RB or recall Liam Lawson instead. Ricciardo said “decisions will be made” before the next race in Austin, Texas, on Oct. 20.

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem's plans to crack down on drivers swearing has sparked the latest dispute between drivers and the governing body.

The way Ben Sulayem expressed that — drawing an unflattering comparison with “rap music” — drew criticism from seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton, F1's only Black driver. There was a “racial element” to Ben Sulayem's “stereotypical” language, he said.

While Hamilton said he thought there probably was too much swearing in F1, Verstappen argued TV should be more responsible about which radio excerpts get aired. “That will help a lot more than putting bans on drivers,” he said.

The heat and humidity of Singapore's street circuit make it one of the toughest races of the year for drivers. Even their water can get so hot it's hard to drink.

Mercedes driver George Russell said he started special training during the mid-season break a month ago, going for a run in three layers of clothes to simulate racing in fireproof overalls in the Singapore heat.

“We lose almost four kilograms (8 pounds, 13 ounces) of fluids in in an hour-and-a-half race, so it’s a pretty good weight loss program if that's what you're chasing," Russell said Thursday.

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Mercedes driver George Russell of Britain steers his car during the first practice session of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Singapore, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands steers his car during the first practice session of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Singapore, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain steers his car during the first practice session of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Singapore, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain arrives during the first practice session of the Singapore Formula One Grand Prix at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, in Singapore, Friday, Sept. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Vincent Thian)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands is pushed on the grid before the Formula One Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

McLaren driver Lando Norris of Britain makes a pit stop during the Formula One Grand Prix in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (Ali Haideric/Pool via AP)

TOKYO (AP) — Hong Kong’s share benchmark has fallen more than 9% as traders dumped shares following recent sharp gains.

The Hang Seng index lost 9.4% to close at 20,926.79. Technology and China-related shares led the decline.

Hong Kong shares had logged strong gains over the past week while markets in mainland China were closed for a weeklong holiday. The advances were fueled by recent announcements of plans by Beijing for more support for the economy and for financial markets.

Shares initially soared in Shanghai on Tuesday but then gave up a chunk of those gains as details of economic stimulus plans from officials in Beijing fell short of what investors were hoping for. Shares elsewhere in Asia declined.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

Shares soared Tuesday in Shanghai as Chinese markets reopened after a weeklong holiday but then gave up a chunk of their initial gains as the details of Beijing's plans to revive the world's second-largest economy appeared to fall flat.

The Shanghai Composite index was up 3.1% at 3,438.16, though in Shenzhen, Japan's smaller market, the main index gained 6.2%.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng sank 7.6% to 21,336.70 as traders, apparently underwhelmed by the update from Beijing, sold to lock in profits from recent gains.

The Shanghai benchmark initially gained 10% but fell back as officials of China's main economic planning agency briefed reporters about a slew of policies announced earlier that were meant to address various problems such as a protracted slump in the property market.

“China’s markets rally has hit a wall, leaving investors deflated. The reopening surge from the week-long holiday barely had time to gather steam before fizzling out, and now the once-thrilled bulls are licking their wounds,” Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets were mostly lower.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index lost 1.3% to 38,842.75. as the dollar fell to 147.89 Japanese yen from 148.18 yen. A weaker yen tends to push share prices higher.

The Kospi in Seoul declined 0.4% to 2,599.96. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.4% to 8,176.90.

On Monday, U.S. stocks slid after Treasury yields hit their highest levels since the summer and oil prices continued to climb.

The S&P 500 dropped 1% to 5,695.94 and is still close to its all-time high set a week earlier. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.9% to 41,954.24, coming off its own record. The Nasdaq composite sank 1.2% to 17,923.90.

It’s a stall for U.S. stocks after they rallied to records on relief that interest rates are finally heading back down, now that the Federal Reserve has widened its focus to include keeping the economy humming instead of just fighting high inflation. A blowout report on U.S. jobs growth released Friday raised optimism about the economy and hopes that the Fed can pull off a perfect landing for it.

When Treasury bonds, which are seen as the safest possible investments, are paying more in interest, investors become less inclined to pay very high prices for stocks and other things that carry bigger risk of losing money.

It’s more difficult to look attractive to investors seeking income when a 10-year Treasury is paying a 4.02% yield, up from 3.97% late Friday and from 3.62% three weeks ago.

The yield on the two-year Treasury, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, jumped more on Monday. It rose to 3.99% from 3.92% late Friday.

Treasury yields may also be feeling upward push from the recent jump in oil prices. Crude prices have been spurting higher on worries that worsening tensions in the Middle East could ultimately lead to disruptions in the flow of oil.

Brent crude, the international standard, shed $1.23 to $79.70 per barrel. It had jumped 3.7% Monday. Benchmark U.S. crude, meanwhile, slipped $1.21 to $75.93. It also gained 3.7% on Monday.

Stocks that are seen as the most expensive can feel the most downward pressure from higher Treasury yields, and the spotlight has been on Big Tech stocks. They drove the majority of the S&P 500’s returns in recent years and soared to heights that critics called overdone.

Apple fell 2.3%, Amazon dropped 3% and Alphabet sank 2.4% to act as some of Monday's heaviest weights on the S&P 500.

An exception was Nvidia, which rose another 2.3%. It rode another upswell in excitement about artificial-intelligence technology after Super Micro Computer soared 15.8% after saying it recently shipped more than 100,000 graphics processing units with liquid cooling.

If Treasury yields keep rising, companies will likely need to deliver bigger profits to drive their stock prices much higher, and this week marks the start of the latest corporate earnings reporting season.

Analysts say earnings per share grew 4.2% during the summer for S&P 500 companies from a year earlier, led by technology and health care companies, according to FactSet. If those analysts are correct, it would be a fifth straight quarter of growth.

In other dealings early Tuesday, the euro rose to $1.0982 from $1.0977.

AP Business Writer Stan Choe in New York contributed.

FILE - The New York Stock Exchange is shown on Sept. 24, 2024., 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)

Currency traders pass by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), center left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won, center, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader passes by a screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)