It is with great pleasure that Lando
Norris is welcomed to the history books of Formula 1 as grand prix winner! The
McLaren driver delivered the perfect drive to take his first win at the
2024 Miami grand prix.
McLaren arrived in Miami with a raft
of upgrades for their car but still there was every expectation that Red Bull
and Max Verstappen would remain untouchable. It was the case all through
qualifying and the sprint too where Verstappen racked up two poles and a sprint
win.
Norris however was not only bunted out of the sprint race at the first
corner but only managed the fifth quickest time in quali for the Sunday race.
Despite the McLaren showing good speed it just wasn’t coming together through
the weekend.
Norris ran in sixth place for the
opening stint of the race, and it was McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri who was
running near the front. It’s clear that Norris was biding his time and as the
frontrunners took to the pitlane Norris and McLaren opted to extend his first
stint.
It proved to a masterstroke as a crash between Logan Sargeant and Kevin
Magnussen brought out the safety car. It allowed Norris to pit and maintain the
lead of the race.
There will be some who say that
Norris lucked into the lead of the race thanks to the safety car. But neither
he nor McLaren lucked into the decision to go longer in the opening stint and
neither did they luck into the pace he was able to deliver.
Safety cars are a
part of Formula 1 and can just as easily ruin a driver’s race. Add to this that
there were still 26 laps to go, with Verstappen right on his gearbox, and there
is no way that anyone can legitimately say that Norris lucked into the race
win. He’d come achingly close in 2021 before the rain ruined his chances in
Sochi and has been second on several occasions.
There has always been an
inevitability of Lando Norris winning grand prix and the only unknown was when
he would do so. He’s been highly regarded for some time now and ever popular
with F1 fans the world over. Nearly every driver on the grid sought Norris out
immediately after the race to offer their congratulations – another indication
of how well liked he is and how well deserved the result is.
At the 110th time of
asking he won the race by roughly seven seconds. It was a good sign too for
McLaren that Verstappen had no answer for Norris’s pace. He remarked,
post-race, on a lack of balance and grip indicating that the McLaren was, on
merit, simply too quick. It’s an exciting result but also should be tempered
with some caution; it’s one race on a fairly unique track layout and it remains
to be seen if McLaren can now carry this on through the rest of the season.
There is no doubt though that Norris and McLaren will be brimming with
confidence. Behind Verstappen Charles
Leclerc was third for Ferrari.
Carlos Sainz was fourth on the road
for Ferrari but a subsequent time penalty, for breaking Oscar Piastri’s
front-wing with a dam deer move, promoted Checo Perez to fourth and dropped him
to fifth. Lewis Hamilton showed good late-race pace to finish sixth ahead of an
impressive Yuki Tsunoda in seventh. In eighth was George Russell with Fernando
Alonso coming from fifteenth on the grid to finish ninth. Alpine’s woes
continue but there was something to cheer about as Esteban Ocon scored the
final point on offer in tenth.
It
isn’t only a remarkable achievement for Norris but for McLaren too. Especially
if you consider that at last year’s race in Miami Norris finished a minute and
a half behind race winner Verstappen. McLaren’s turnaround in 2023 was already
impressive and to now add a bonafide win to this is a striking testament to how
much brilliant work the team from Woking has done. Long may it continue.
