Lando Norris was able to exploit a racing incident to fly to his first victory in Formula 1 in Miami. The McLaren driver won under the nose of Max Verstappen (Red Bull).
Leading at mid-race after the tire changes of all his main competitors, the 24-year-old driver benefited from the deployment of the safety car after a collision between the Dane Kevin Magnussen (Haas) and the American Logan Sargeant ( Williams) to pit and keep the lead in the race.
When the safety car faded to restart the Grand Prix, he held off Verstappen before escaping and soaring to victory, like his jump worthy of a rock star among the members of his team, who then carried him in triumph just after he got out of the car.
‘It was time ! I finally managed to do it. I’m so happy for my team, I finally brought them a victory. It’s been a long day, a difficult race, but I’m finally at the top, I’m delighted,’ said the McLaren driver at the end of the race.
This rather unexpected success on Sunday, since Norris had started in fifth position, far from Verstappen’s pole position, indeed comes late for the talented Briton, who had obtained 15 podiums but had to wait for his 110th Grand Prix to obtain his first victory.
Verstappen struggling
Behind him, Verstappen finished more than seven seconds behind and never looked comfortable throughout the weekend, despite winning the sprint and setting the fastest time in qualifying on Saturday.
After starting in the lead, the Dutchman failed to create a big gap with his pursuers, notably the Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and Oscar Piastri (McLaren). The Australian, who made a superb start, was second behind Verstappen for a long time, before falling back notably after a small collision with the Spaniard Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) which damaged his front wing.
The three-time world champion suffered a scare on lap 22 when he went straight at turn 15 and tore off a plastic pole. The stewards then decided to set up a virtual safety car to clear the track of plastic debris.
‘Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. It’s the race… Today was complicated. I’m very happy for Lando (Norris), he’s been waiting for this for a long time and it certainly won’t be his last victory. He clearly deserves his victory today,’ he admitted.
Behind this duo, Leclerc, despite a missed start, had a solid race, finishing just two seconds behind Verstappen, and allowed Ferrari to return to the podium.
Trump present
In the world championship standings, Verstappen, who had won four of the first five Grands Prix this season, is still in the lead with 136 points, respectively 33 and 38 lengths ahead of Pérez and Leclerc. Thanks to his victory, Norris moves up to fourth place with 83 points on the clock, the same total as Sainz, winner in Australia after Verstappen’s retirement.
The third edition of the Miami Grand Prix was once again a great American show with the presence of many stars and also that of former American President Donald Trump, candidate in the next presidential election in November.
The billionaire was first invited to the starting grid during the anthem sung by Marc Anthony where he was acclaimed by the public. Trump, with a red ‘Make America great again’ cap screwed on his head, then went to congratulate Norris on his victory.
/ATS
