Lando Norris celebrates pole position
The wait is over! At long last, Lando Norris can call himself a Grand Prix winner as he claimed an impressive victory in Miami.
Despite Max Verstappen’s lack of his usual comfort, the impeccable timing of the Safety Car allowed Norris to seize the lead and fulfill his prediction of a victory in 2024 by leaving Verstappen behind. Charles Leclerc from Ferrari secured third place, completing the podium.
Say hello to your new Formula 1 Grand Prix winner, Lando Norris
Lewis Hamilton was the sole driver among the top 14 who opted for hard tyres instead of mediums at the beginning. Pirelli mentioned that the hard compound had the potential to endure the entire Grand Prix. Nevertheless, a pit stop remained obligatory.
Valtteri Bottas from Sauber took a unique approach by opting for the soft tyre from his P16 grid position.
Everyone’s attention was fixed on the front of the pack as Verstappen, starting from pole position, took the lead. Meanwhile, Perez skillfully maneuvered his Red Bull car to narrowly avoid colliding with his teammate at the braking zone of Turn 1. Leclerc held onto second place, while Piastri from McLaren made an impressive start and moved up to third position.
In the meantime, Nico Hulkenberg fiercely defended his position against Hamilton’s attempt to warm up the hard tyres, causing the Mercedes driver to fall back to his original starting position of P8.
In the early stages, Piastri quickly developed an interest in securing P2 for himself. On the fifth lap, he skillfully maneuvered past Leclerc at Turn 17, showcasing the impressive performance of his McLaren with the Miami upgrades.
Hamilton exclaimed over the radio that he had narrowly avoided a major collision. He was currently engaged in a intense and daring duel with a Haas, successfully overtaking Hulkenberg before a lock-up at Turn 17 allowed Hulkenberg to regain his position. Following his recent encounter with Kevin Magnussen, who had been accumulating penalties, Hamilton must have been growing weary of encountering Haas cars.
Hamilton completed his second overtaking maneuver on Hulkenberg at Turn 11. He then aimed to create distance between himself and Hulkenberg by speeding up. Meanwhile, George Russell in the other Mercedes was right behind Hulkenberg and eventually passed him on Lap 13. Hulkenberg subsequently entered the pit lane to switch to hard tires.
Verstappen had a lead of almost three seconds over Piastri by Lap 15, but Red Bull was urging him to increase his speed as he was not able to create a significant gap at this point. Piastri was also feeling the pressure from Leclerc, while Norris was showcasing McLaren’s strong race pace as he chased Perez for the fifth position.
Perez decided to make a pit stop on Lap 18 and switched to a set of hard tyres. This allowed Norris to try an overcut strategy, even though McLaren encouraged him to chase after Sainz. Surprisingly, Norris fully supported the team’s request and eagerly went for it.
On Lap 20, Leclerc pulled into the pits for a tire change. Ferrari efficiently completed the service in just 1.9 seconds, providing their driver with an excellent advantage.
In the meantime, Verstappen unexpectedly made a mistake when approaching the Turn 14/15 chicane. He misplaced a bollard, causing the Virtual Safety Car to be deployed temporarily while a marshal cleared the hazard. The track quickly resumed its normal state. Drivers such as Fernando Alonso, Esteban Ocon, and Magnussen took advantage of the situation and opted to pit during the Virtual Safety Car period.
Verstappen made a pit stop on the 24th lap of the race to switch to the hard tyres.
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Piastri and Sainz made their pit stops on Lap 28, however, a significant turn of events occurred when Magnussen and Sargeant collided at Turn 3. This collision resulted in Sargeant’s elimination from the race and prompted the deployment of the Safety Car.
Perez made another pit stop, while the important thing was that Norris managed to make a cost-effective pit stop. He pitted from the first position and emerged in the lead again, equipped with hard tyres. This meant that Verstappen had an essential overtaking maneuver ahead of him.
In addition to his previous penalties, Magnussen was handed another 10-second penalty for causing the collision with Sargeant.
Verstappen made an early move on Norris at Turn 1 on Lap 32 of 57 after the Safety Car went back to the pit lane. However, Norris defended his position well, leaving Verstappen unable to overtake. Leclerc, Piastri, and Sainz held the top five positions, with Sainz expressing his frustration that Piastri had forced him off the track at Turn 11 while fighting for fourth place. Initially, the stewards disagreed with Sainz’s complaint but later decided to investigate the incident post-race.
Given Verstappen’s clear superiority in this era of F1, it was reasonable to be skeptical about Norris’ ability to hold him off. However, much to everyone’s surprise, the McLaren driver managed to increase the gap to three seconds. Verstappen’s frustrated comment of “I can’t get the car to turn, it’s a disaster” was a delightful sound for Norris.
Piastri and Sainz found themselves in another skirmish, with Sainz making a mistake at Turn 17 and making contact with Piastri. Despite the incident, Sainz managed to overtake Piastri at Turn 1. Unfortunately, Piastri suffered damage to his front wing as Perez and Hamilton passed by. McLaren made the decision to bring Piastri into the pits to replace the damaged wing and switch to medium tyres, which was a disappointing turn of events for the Australian driver.
Sainz expressed his dissatisfaction with his Ferrari, requesting his team to “inspect the downforce” due to its apparent issues.
Sainz secured a comfortable fourth place finish, but the real highlight was Norris, as he emerged victorious in the Miami Grand Prix for the first time in his Formula 1 career!
Leclerc completed the top three, leaving Verstappen to settle for the second step on the podium.
2024 Miami Grand Prix classification
1 Lando NORRIS McLaren 1:30:49.876 57 laps
2 Max VERSTAPPEN Red Bull Racing +7.612
3 Charles LECLERC Ferrari +9.920
4 Carlos SAINZ Ferrari +11.407
5 Sergio PEREZ Red Bull Racing +14.650
6 Lewis HAMILTON Mercedes +16.585
7 Yuki TSUNODA RB +26.185
8 George RUSSELL Mercedes +34.789
9 Fernando ALONSO Aston Martin +37.107
10 Esteban OCON Alpine +39.746
11 Nico HULKENBERG Haas F1 Team +40.789
12 Pierre GASLY Alpine +44.958
13 Oscar PIASTRI McLaren +49.756
14 Guanyu ZHOU Kick Sauber +49.979
15 Daniel RICCIARDO RB +50.956
16 Valtteri BOTTAS Kick Sauber +52.356
17 Lance STROLL Aston Martin +55.173
18 Kevin MAGNUSSEN Haas F1 Team +64.683
19 Alexander ALBON Williams +76.091
20 Logan SARGEANT Williams DNF
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