A Dream Maiden Win Under the Miami Sun
Image: @McLarenF1 on Twitter/X
We witnessed Britain’s number of Formula One race winners go up by one last weekend in Miami, with McLaren’s Lando Norris bringing that tally up to 21. With a safety car in hand and Max having problems of his own, it all came together for the Brit on Sunday and it’s fair to say that nobody in the paddock was displeased to see another first-time win.
Qualifying
Max Verstappen secured his seventh consecutive pole position for the Miami Grand Prix - despite not improving during his final flying lap, Verstappen’s provisional time of 1:27.241 in the first runs of Q3 was enough to hold his position at the front. Charles Leclerc joined him on the front row, while teammate Carlos Sainz took third place.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez claimed fourth, followed by McLaren’s eventual race winner Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in fifth and sixth respectively. The Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton started from the fourth row in seventh and eighth place.
Image: Formula One
The top five in qualifying were as follows:
Max Verstappen - 1:27.241
Charles Leclerc - 1:27.382 (+0.141)
Carlos Sainz - 1:27.455 (+0.214)
Sergio Perez - 1:27.460 (+0.219)
Lando Norris - 1:27.594 (+0.353)
The British national anthem is heard once again
Image: Formula One
Running sixth in the opening stages of the race, Norris extended his opening Medium tyre stint, allowing him to emerge from the pits in the lead after a stop on lap 30 following the safety car that would ultimately aid him in winning the Grand Prix. Meanwhile, Max Verstappen was demoted to second after stopping under normal racing conditions. Despite an initial attack from Verstappen at the restart, Norris maintained his position and gradually pulled away.
The safety car was brought out because of a collision and subsequent DNF between Logan Sargeant and Kevin Magnussen - debates have raged on around social media about who was to blame for this incident, one which is very much akin to Alexander Albon and Daniel Ricciardo’s coming together at the Japanese Grand Prix earlier this year.
Norris put on a cool and collected performance, with balance problems and floor damage for Verstappen hindering the Dutchman from catching up and seeing Norris pull away at a rate of knots until the flag fell. Verstappen eventually settled for second place, while Charles Leclerc completed the podium.
The debut winner, exalted, said “I finally delivered for them. A long day, tough race, but finally on top so I’m over the moon”
Team Principal Zak Brown gave his ever-characterful congratulations to Lando and the team - can they pull it off again this year and outclass Red Bull?
Verstoppin’ Verstappen
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen wasn’t able to make it a third consecutive Miami Grand Prix win on Sunday, owing to a handful of factors.
During the race, Verstappen ran over the chicane at Turns 14 and 15, dislodging a bollard and carrying it along with him. It eventually landed on the track at the exit of Turn 16, leading to a Virtual Safety Car period. Verstappen pitted after the VSC ended, but the damage impacted his pace. Team Principal Christian Horner acknowledged the damage but considered second place a decent result given the circumstances.
[Max] hit the bollard around Lap 20, and that’s actually done quite a lot of damage to the underside of the car, so we’ll have to look at exactly what the effect of that has been.
Christian Horner on Verstappen’s run-in with a bollard
So it was a rare sit-out for the reigning World Champion this time round, who will be looking to return to form at Imola and extend his 33-point lead over teammate Perez.
Further down the field…
Kick Sauber drivers Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu faced challenging weekends; The Finn started 16th after a risky strategy, while Zhou struggled with soft tires, finishing 14th. Both drivers hope this performance was an outlier, and they anticipate improvements in the next race at Imola.
It was a pretty drab outing for Williams, with the struggling Logan Sargeant being taken out of the race by Kevin Magnussen and Alex Albon qualifying in 14th and finishing Sunday’s GP in 18th.
The Thai driver summed up his Miami GP, with hope that the next race can be more fruitful for the Grove outfit:
We’ve struggled with grip all weekend … It’s probably one of the most challenging races I’ve had with the team … A really tough weekend but we’ll look to Imola where the team brings some small upgrades.
Alexander Albon commenting on the team’s performance last weekend
RB’s Yuki Tsunoda had an impressive performance during the Miami Sprint weekend in the upgraded VICARB 01. Starting from 15th, he gained seven places to secure a point in the Sprint race. In the Grand Prix, he finished seventh, matching his best result of the season (achieved previously in Australia). His current points total stands at 14, just three points shy of his entire tally from last season.
So, it’s roll on Imola after a two-year break from the circuit - can Norris carry the momentum from his maiden victory and challenge the Bulls? Whatever happens, we’ll be covering it here at Race Reaction!
For more on the Miami Grand Prix, check out the latest episode of the Race Reaction Podcast!
Final Race Classification
1 - Lando NORRIS
2 - Max VERSTAPPEN
3 - Charles LECLERC
4 - Sergio PEREZ
5 - Carlos SAINZ
6 - Lewis HAMILTON
7 - Yuki TSUNODA
8 - George RUSSELL
9 - Fernando ALONSO
10 - Esteban OCON
11 - Nico HULKENBERG
12 - Pierre GASLY
13 - Oscar PIASTRI
14 - Zhou GUANYU
15 - Daniel RICCIARDO
16 - Valtteri BOTTAS
17 - Lance STROLL
18 - Alexander ALBON
19 - Kevin MAGNUSSEN
DNF - Logan SARGEANT
