McLaren RACER Lando Norris made history by winning the first F1 race in his career at the Miami GP, United States, Monday (6/5) early morning. Norris’ victory surprised defending champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull).
Norris, in his 110th race for McLaren, beat Verstappen by more than seven seconds. Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc finished third.
It was the first time Verstappen lost on track since Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz last won in Singapore in September last year. At the Australian GP last March, Verstappen also did not get on the podium but suffered a DNF.
Verstappen, who started from pole position, still leads the standings by winning four of the opening five races this season.
Verstappen led until the 24th lap but when he entered the pit Norris’ McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri took over the lead. Piastri pitted four laps later which allowed Norris to take the lead and the Briton was then overtaken.
Norris only entered the pit when the safety car came out on lap 30 which gave him a time advantage. The safety car occurred following Kevin Magnussen was involved in an accident following cutting off Logan Sargeant.
Also read: Lando Norris is worried that F1 fans will get bored with Max Verstappen’s dominance
Norris took advantage of the safety car and Verstappen had difficulty catching up. A joyful celebration was carried out by the McLaren team who had waited a long time to achieve victory.
“I think a lot of people doubted me during this time. I have made a lot of mistakes over the last five years, my short career, but today we did everything together, so this is all for the team,” said Norris.
“I stayed with McLaren because I believe in them and I do believe in them and today proved that,” he added.
Also read: Lando Norris is fastest in first practice for the Australian Grand Prix
Verstappen, who complained regarding a lack of grip on his tires in qualifying and during the main race, said his Red Bull land jet was unable to keep up with Norris following the McLaren driver switched to hard tyres.
“They have more speed, Lando is difficult to catch. “It was very difficult for us, but on bad days we got P2,” said Verstappen.
Sainz finished fourth with Verstappen’s Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez in fifth but the pair swapped places following stewards handed the Spaniard a five-second post-race penalty for the incident with Piastri.
Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished sixth and eighth while Team RB driver Yuki Tsunoda finished seventh.
(AFP/Z-9)
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