McLaren’s Lando Norris claimed his maiden F1 victory in an entertaining 2024 Miami Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen led from the start until he pitted on Lap 24 followed by Oscar Piastri and Carlos Sainz four laps later, which left Norris in the lead when the safety car was deployed on Lap 29 after Kevin Magnussen spun Logan Sargeant out of the race at Turn 2 a lap earlier.
Norris pitted a lap later and came out in the lead which he held to the checkered flag to claim his first victory in F1 in his 110th race, making him the 21st Brit to win a F1 race.
Speaking post-race, Norris was relieved to finally claim his first win as he explained: “About time huh! What a race, it’s been a long time coming but finally I’ve been able to do it.
“I’m so happy for my whole team I’ve finally been able to deliver for them. A long day, a tough race, but finally on top so I’m over the moon.”
Norris paid tribute to McLaren for their trust in him over the years and giving him his breakthrough into F1, as he continued: “What do I say to them huh? I’m just proud really, I mean a lot of people doubted me along the way, I’ve made a lot of mistakes over the last five years, my short career but today we put it altogether so this is all for the team. I stuck with McLaren because I believed in them and today proved exactly that.”
Verstappen finished second ahead of Charles Leclerc, Sainz, Sergio Perez, Lewis Hamilton, Yuki Tsunoda, George Russell, Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon.
Sainz however received a five-second time penalty post-race for a collision with McLaren’s Oscar Piastri on Lap 39, which dropped the Spaniard to fifth and promoted Perez to fourth.
In the drivers’ standings, Verstappen now on 136 points extended his title lead over Perez to 33 points, with Leclerc now three points behind the Mexican in third but 15 points ahead of Norris and Sainz who sat fourth and fifth respectively on 83 points
At lights out, Verstappen made a clean start but narrowly avoided being spun out by a late-braking Perez into Turn 1 which caught Leclerc and Sainz out as the Mexican ran wide.
Leclerc managed to keep second but Sainz lost third to Piastri as Perez re-joined fifth in the order.
Verstappen quickly sprinted away out in front as Leclerc failed to fend off Piastri who eventually got past into second on the back straight on Lap 4.
Further back, Hamilton lost seventh to Hulkenberg on Lap 2 and found himself scrapping with the German despite briefly overtaking him on Lap 7 at Turn 11, until he eventually made an overtake stick on Lap 10 with Russell following through two laps later.
Up front, Perez was the first frontrunner to pit on Lap 18 with Leclerc following suit two laps later to try and jump Piastri, whilst Verstappen pitted on Lap 24 to switch from medium to hard tyres.
Piastri consequently inherited the lead from Sainz and Norris until the former pair pitted on Lap 28 which would be a decisive lap, as Magnussen spun Sargeant out of his home race through Turn 2.
The safety car was deployed at the start of Lap 29 after Norris passed the pit entry which allowed him to crawl round at a speed limit before he pitted for hard tyres and re-joined in the lead after the safety car picked up Verstappen as leader in error.
Verstappen and everyone else consequently were released to catch Norris and re-join behind the safety car in order, which saw the safety car stay out until the end of Lap 32.
On the restart, Norris kept the pack tightly bunched up until he sped away on the approach to the start-finish line, and left Verstappen to defend from Leclerc, Piastri and Sainz whilst he struggled to warm up his hard tyres amidst unknown floor damage from hitting a bollard on Lap 15.
Piastri and Sainz soon began to scrap and briefly touched at Turn 11 on Lap 34 but that battle came to a head at Turn 17 on Lap 39 as Sainz got past but both drivers ran deep and Piastri picked up front wing damage which caused him to pit at the end of the next lap.
Up front, Norris continued to build his lead over Verstappen and ultimately clung on to the checkered flag to take victory on his 110th start in F1, plus McLaren’s first win of the season – after Piastri took victory for the team in 2023 Qatar Sprint.
This win also marked Norris’ first triumph in all competitions since the opening race of the 2018 F2 season in Bahrain, en-route to second in that year’s standings in-between two of his closest friends – Russell and Alex Albon with the trio promoted to F1 together in 2019.
Verstappen settled for second ahead of Leclerc, Sainz, Perez and Hamilton, whilst Tsunoda saw off Russell for seventh as Alonso and Ocon rounded out the top ten on the road, before Sainz’s post-race time penalty dropped him to fifth in the classification.
Post-race, Norris received several hugs and celebratory messages from his rivals across the grid including ex teammates, Sainz and Ricciardo plus fellow Brit – Russell amongst others.
The 24 year-old also posted pictures of himself on social media with the trophy after the podium ceremony.
WWE FUCKIJG DID IT. P1 🏆 pic.twitter.com/NBg6d9uejY
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) May 5, 2024
Team Principal, Zak Brown posted on social media platform – X of his pride at Norris and the team for the victory, but bemused Piastri’s disappointing result after a tough fight with Sainz ended in contact.
P1!!! Lando is a Formula 1 grand prix winner!!! So proud of him and the whole team. Oscar very unlucky to drop to P13 after contact with Carlos. LET’S GOOOOO!!! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/0t743MhXoM
— Zak Brown (@ZBrownCEO) May 5, 2024
McLaren’s IndyCar driver, Pato O’Ward meanwhile tweeted praise for Norris’ strategy on X.
LANDOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! So happy for you @LandoNorris 👏🏻 😎 @McLarenF1 bangin’ strategy!!!
— Pato O’Ward (@PatricioOWard) May 5, 2024
Even MotoGP which has recently been acquired by F1 owner, Liberty Media posted a congratulatory message for the Brit.
Congratulations on your maiden #F1 race win, @LandoNorris! 👏 #MiamiGP https://t.co/CfK6E9rHUC
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 5, 2024
McLaren’s Formula E driver, Jake Hughes also shared his congratulatory message for Norris on X.
WHAT A RACE!!!! 🧡 @LandoNorris congrats man!! 🫡
And @OscarPiastri that was a great drive mate. Your time will come 💪🏻🧡 https://t.co/v2uPUj113i
— Jake Hughes (@JakeHughesRace) May 5, 2024
Testament to Norris’ popularity, four-time BTCC champion – Ashley Sutton even took to X to share his pride at the result.
Honestly…
It was only a matter of time! Take a bow @LandoNorris 👏🏻
Unreal performance #F1
— Ashley Sutton (@ASuttonRacing) May 5, 2024
IndyCar driver and fellow Brit, Jack Harvey believes that this victory could be the first of many victories to come for Norris.
Get in!!!!! Congrats @LandoNorris 👏🏻👏🏻First of many to come F1 victories! Fantastic 🤙🏻 Super happy for the lads @ADD_Management as well ❤️ #MiamiGP
— Jack Harvey (@jack_harvey93) May 5, 2024
US Sports Broadcaster, Leigh Diffey meanwhile praised McLaren for achieving wins in three different single-seater categories within the last two months.
Sooo … @McLarenF1 won the @Indycar season opener w @PatricioOWard after the Newgarden DQ … they’ve won in @FIAFormulaE and now maybe @f1 … quite the year if @LandoNorris pulls this off! #MiamiGP
— Leigh Diffey (@leighdiffey) May 5, 2024
Ocon meanwhile achieved Alpine’s first point of the season which left the Frenchman overjoyed as he paid tribute to Alonso for giving him a good scrap for the last two points-paying positions.
IN THE POINTS!!! ☝🏼 This one means a lot to us and all credit to the team at Enstone and Viry who have worked so hard after a tough beginning to the season. Enjoyed a good battle with @alo_oficial along the way too. 🤝 and congrats @LandoNorris your first win, well deserved. pic.twitter.com/aa2Rh4K8HE
— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) May 5, 2024
F1 now turns its attention to the European scene over the next few months beginning with a trip to Imola across the weekend of 17-19 May for the Emilia Romagna GP – which was cancelled in 2023 just days before practice due to floods in the Italian region.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Lando Norris | McLaren | 57 | 1h 30m 49.876 |
| 2 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | 57 | + 7.612 |
| 3 | Charles Leclerc | Ferrari | 57 | + 9.920 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz | Ferrari | 57 | + 11.407 |
| 5 | Sergio Perez | Red Bull | 57 | + 14.650 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 57 | + 16.585 |
| 7 | Yuki Tsunoda | RB | 57 | + 26.185 |
| 8 | George Russell | Mercedes | 57 | + 34.789 |
| 9 | Fernando Alonso | Aston Martin | 57 | + 37.107 |
| 10 | Esteban Ocon | Alpine | 57 | + 39.746 |
| 11 | Nico Hulkenberg | Haas | 57 | + 40.789 |
| 12 | Pierre Gasly | Alpine | 57 | + 44.958 |
| 13 | Oscar Piastri | McLaren | 57 | + 49.756 |
| 14 | Guanyu Zhou | Kick Sauber | 57 | + 49.979 |
| 15 | Daniel Ricciardo | RB | 57 | + 50.956 |
| 16 | Valtteri Bottas | Kick Sauber | 57 | + 52.356 |
| 17 | Lance Stroll | Aston Martin | 57 | + 55.173 |
| 18 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | 57 | + 64.683 |
| 19 | Alex Albon | Williams | 57 | + 76.091 |
| RET | Logan Sargeant | Williams | 27 | Collision |
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