On his 110th Grand Prix start, McLaren ace Lando Norris finally scored his breakthrough win in Miami.
Lando Norris’ time has finally come.
On his 110th Grand Prix start, Norris finally scored his breakthrough win in Miami, beating world champion Max Verstappen in a sensational performance.
Norris qualified P5 and was down to sixth after a busy start, but McLaren had their ace driver go long for his initial stint using the hard tire.
Lando took over the lead on Lap 28 after a round of pit stops, and through luck or fate — or both — a safety car was deployed on the very next lap after a crash involving Logan Sargeant and Kevin Magnussen, enabling Norris to essentially get a free pit stop.
Norris got out of the pits still in first, and maintained his place through the end of the race, giving McLaren their first Grand Prix victory since Daniel Ricciardo in Italy in 2021.
Lando beat Verstappen by 7.6 seconds, with the Red Bull driver losing in Miami for the first time ever.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc completed the podium in P3, while Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz came in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton crossed the line in P6, while Yuki Tsunoda picked up P7 for RB. George Russell, Ferdinand Alonso, and Esteban Ocon rounded out the top-10, with Ocon scoring the first points for Alpine this season.
With the win, Norris jumped to fourth in the Driver standings, tied with 83 points with Sainz.
The Red Bull duo of Verstappen and Perez continue to lead at 136 and 103 points, respectively. Leclerc is third with 98 points.