Lando Norris earns maiden F1 Grand Prix win in Miami

Lando Norris has broken through in his 110th race for McLaren to win his first Formula One Grand Prix in Miami, getting home by almost eight seconds.

Norris thanked his parents and dedicated the race to his grandmother after breaking his run of 15 podiums and eight second-place finishes without a win.

Following a disappointing sprint race on Saturday where he didn’t finish, the Englishman put in a solid qualifying performance to start fifth on the grid behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc, as well as Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, who started from pole position.

The $17 bookmaker outsider managed to stay out of trouble through the first dozen laps of the race before Perez pitted on lap 18, creating clearer air for Sainz and Norris.

“I’ll go get him,” was Norris’ response to his engineer when receiving the instruction to attack Sainz instead of trying to defend his position from Perez, who was behind him in sixth.

An error from race-leader Verstappen on lap 23 when he took out the safety bollard between turns 14 and 15 brought a virtual safety car, which compacted the field and saw drivers flood the pit lane for a necessary stop.

Pit stops for McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and Sainz on lap 28 put Norris in the lead, but drama soon followed.

Haas driver Kevin Magnussen was penalised ten seconds for colliding with Williams driver Logan Sargeant on lap 30, who hit the barriers and was ruled out of the race, which brought out the safety car.

The race resumed on lap 33, with Norris executing the restart perfectly, putting a small gap between himself and three-time world champion Verstappen early before slowly opening the gap to take his first win.

The race began with chaos when Verstappen and teammate Perez jumped off the line quickly, with Perez being investigated for a false start before stewards confirmed no infringement had occurred.

Perez locked up heading into turn one and almost took his teammate out of the race before Australian Piastri picked up Norris, Sainz, and Perez to sit in third behind Leclerc.

The 23-year-old didn’t waste time and overtook Leclerc on lap five before slowly chipping away at the lead Verstappen had created.

The race leader would soon receive a message from the Red Bull team to “pick up the pace” and stop managing his tyres as they recognised the pace of Piastri and McLaren.

Piastri had an incredibly unlucky race and ended up finishing in 13th place, two spots in front of fellow Aussie Daniel Ricciardo.

The McLaren driver was leading the race at one point before a battle and subsequent contact with Ferrari’s Sainz damaged Piastri’s front wing, forcing him into the pits and down to last place.

RB driver Ricciardo finished off a brilliant race in 15th position, having qualified in 17th and serving a three-spot grid penalty from the Chinese Grand Prix to start Miami in 20th.

Sights are now set on Italy for Formula One’s Emilia-Romagna in Imola, where Norris and McLaren will look to continue closing the gap between themselves, Ferrari, and Red Bull.

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