Lando Norris spoiled the Max Verstappen party in Miami Sunday to score his first career Formula 1 win.
The British driver was running sixth in the early stages of the race, but a Safety Car at the midway point led to a strategy call by his McLaren team that led to the team’s first win since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.
“About time!” the 24-year-old said. “What a race. It’s been a long time coming, but finally I’ve managed to do it. I’m so happy for my whole team, I finally delivered for them. A long day, tough race, but finally on top so I’m over the moon.”
Verstappen led from pole but pitted just prior to the Safety Car and found himself in second after the Norris stop. Norris was able to maintain his lead while Verstappen suffered balance problems that slowed his pace.
“Today was a bit tricky,” Verstappen said. “I think already on the medium [tires] it didn’t feel fantastic, we were pulling away but not like it should be. Then once we made a pit stop I heard what the lap times McLaren were doing and I was like, ‘Well, that’s pretty quick!’.
“Once then they also switched onto the hard tire, they just had more pace, especially Lando he was flying. It was incredibly difficult for us on that stint but if a bad day is P2 I take it.”
Charles Leclerc completed the podium ahead of Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz, who made contact with Oscar Piastri who looked to be the McLaren to score the upset earlier in the race, late in an incident that forced Piastri back into the pits for a new front wing.
The win for Norris came in his 110th career start.
“I knew on Friday we had the pace, just a couple of mistakes here and there, but today we managed to put it together,” Norris said. “We put the perfect strategy [together], it all paid off. Thanks to McLaren, everyone, and have to give a shout out to my mum and dad of course.
“I stuck with McLaren because I could believe in them, and I did believe in them. Today proved exactly that.”
In the six races run so far in the F1 season, Verstappen has still won four.
“I’m very happy for Lando, it’s been a long time coming and it’s not going to be his last one, so he definitely deserves it today,” Verstappen said.
“I think definitely it wasn’t our strongest weekend in terms of race pace, but we’ll analyze it all and we’ll try to come back stronger.”
FORMULA 1 CRYPTO.COM MIAMI GRAND PRIX 2024 – RACE RESULT
| Pos | Driver | Time/Retired | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1:30:49.876 | 25 | |
| 2 | +7.612s | 18 | |
| 3 | +9.920s | 15 | |
| 4 | +11.407s | 12 | |
| 5 | +14.650s | 10 | |
| 6 | +16.585s | 8 | |
| 7 | +26.185s | 6 | |
| 8 | +34.789s | 4 | |
| 9 | +37.107s | 2 | |
| 10 | +39.746s | 1 | |
| 11 | +40.789s | 0 | |
| 12 | +44.958s | 0 | |
| 13 | +49.756s | 0 | |
| 14 | +49.979s | 0 | |
| 15 | +50.956s | 0 | |
| 16 | +52.356s | 0 | |
| 17 | +55.173s | 0 | |
| 18 | +64.683s | 0 | |
| 19 | +76.091s | 0 | |
| NC | DNF | 0 |
* Provisional results. Magnussen received a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision. Stroll received a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Greg has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.