Finally, the big show in the sun, with which the Miami Grand Prix sells its luxury extravaganza of excess and expense, which lived up to the hype, just like the star of the show when Briton Lando Norris took his first Formula 1 victory.
It took a long time, but Norris deserved it and made it definitively clear that, given the machinery, he is more than capable of putting world champion Max Verstappen to the sword.
This was the Superbowl-style event in a destination city that Formula 1 owners crave and for the spectators who danced and drank with abandon in the loud fan zones, it met the criteria. Norris was exceptional, taking some luck from the timing of a safety car, but then having to perform with impeccable precision for 24 laps as three-time world champion Verstappen loomed in his mirrors.
As well as keeping his nerves in check, Norris showed that, as he has made clear in the past, he is not afraid to take on Verstappen as long as he is in a straight fight. This was the moment when Norris endured perhaps the most intense, high-pressure 24 laps of his life.
It’s been a while, but the debut win for the 24-year-old from Glastonbury came at his 110th Grand Prix after making his debut at the 2019 Australian GP. He has eight second-place finishes and could well have claimed a victory in Russia in 2021 only bad luck with late rain, but he has repeatedly shown the skill and enthusiasm to compete with the best at the very front.
For Norris, who has long shown exceptional promise, this was the justification for a driver who is much admired. It looked like Verstappen was in control at the front, until the race was turned upside down around the halfway mark. McLaren had seized the opportunity by leaving Norris out long before his pit stop and from where he inherited the lead.
Verstappen had pitted on lap 24 and when Logan Sargeant crashed on lap 29 and tangled with Kevin Magnussen, this triggered a safety car under which Norris was given a free stop, putting him back in the lead from Verstappen.
He maintained his lead at the restart on lap 33 as Verstappen struggled to get his tires up to speed and Norris opened a gap with his fresher rubber, but it was impossibly tense as the British driver put in a series of flawless laps that he knew they were crucial. .
A series of fastest laps followed, they started ticking away and as unlikely as it seemed, it seemed that Verstappen had nothing more to say and complained about having no grip. For once it was Norris who was in full command at the front and did what he always said he could do.
The safety car had fallen in his favor, but Norris held his nerve with an absolute iron will to finish like a champion. The lead grew as the laps counted down until he took the flag and took a historic first victory 7.6 seconds ahead of Verstappen.
His laughter and screeching celebration from the cockpit was elated and he was sportingly applauded by Lewis Hamilton as the seven-time champion drew level with him on the lap.
after newsletter promotion
“I love you all, thank you very much. We did it, Will,” he roared to his race engineer Will Joseph. “I think that’s how it’s done, finally. I knew it when I walked in this morning, I said today is the day for opportunity. Thank you mom, thank you dad, this one is for my grandma.”
He then threw himself at his team and crowdsurfed into their welcoming arms.
The crowd also stood up to acknowledge his performance with absolutely raucous approval. For three years now, fans have been coming to the track that wraps its way around the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens and they have yet to see anyone other than Verstappen take victory here. The fact that the Dutchman’s stranglehold was broken by a driver who was so popular in the US and thus wrote history, was the sports drama that they appreciated with great acclaim.
“I’m very happy for Lando, it’s been a long time coming and it certainly won’t be his last. He deserved it today,” said Verstappen, who nevertheless extended his lead in the title race to 35 points over Red Bull teammate Pérez. who finished fifth.
By the time the champagne was flowing, it was clear the fans were having a good time. Finally a new winner in Miami and proof that in F1 there is a place to float around in a bikini while drinking cocktails, just as there is a place to stand on a grassy hill in Spa in a waterproof raincoat, as long as there is a great showing on track and for the first time both Miami and Norris delivered in spades on that front.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished third and fourth. Sergio Pérez was fifth for Red Bull, Hamilton and his teammate George Russell sixth and eighth for Mercedes, Yuki Tsunoda seventh for RB, Fernando Alonso ninth for Aston Martin and Esteban Ocon tenth for Alpine.