Lando Norris and McLaren achieved something that seemed impossible: overturning Red Bull’s hegemony in Formula 1 and the British driver achieved the first victory of his career in the premier category of motorsport, all at the Miami Grand Prix.
Great for the Woking and Norris team. McLaren brought a very important package of updates to the Florida circuit and it showed, with Norris and Piastri like rockets in Miami and the Australian was even able to lead for a few laps.
Max Verstappen maintained the lead in the first part of the race, while Checo Pérez lost a position at the start with a mistake similar to the one he had in the sprint on Saturday. The blue Ferraris became mere spectators of the battle between the Austrians and the British, with Norris still behind Pérez.
Red Bull failed again with Pérez, although it rectified a bit in a safety car that appeared after a collision between Sargeant and Magnussen. But Norris, who had not stopped, was the biggest beneficiary of this and, in the end, he would not let go of the lead, on the contrary, he would give Verstappen a pace review.
With Piastri and Sainz as first and second respectively on lap 29, both entered the pits and left Norris as the virtual leader of the race, although he still had to stop, which would have given first place to Verstappen.
However, Norris wanted to push and push because, in terms of pace, he was the best driver on the grid on the Miami urban layout. But, on top of that, he was lucky enough to encounter a ‘safety car’ that changed everything in the first lap as leader.
He entered the pits, changed tires and while Sargeant’s car was removed and the stewards announced a ten-second penalty for Magnussen at the end of the race, he once again positioned himself as the real leader of a race that from that moment he saved without problems.
It was his first victory in Formula One after a pole position, fifteen podiums and 109 races. Despite all that time without victory, the Briton did not get nervous when he saw the three-time world champion in the rearview mirrors, whom he kept moving away from until finishing the race seven seconds behind.
It is McLaren’s first victory in Formula 1 since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix with Daniel Ricciardo and the first victory for a team other than Red Bull and Ferrari since the 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix.
*With information from EFE.
