Norris’ victory in the F1 Miami GP will not be his last

Norris beat Verstappen by seven seconds, after taking advantage of making his only pit stop under a safety car – unlike his rivals – for a collision between Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant.

Verstappen had won both previous GPs in Miami, but had already made his pit stop when the safety car was needed. He previously caused a virtual safety car of his own by hitting and dislodging the bollard at Turn 15, and admitted he struggled to get his car to turn.

It was only the second time Verstappen had been defeated in 2024, after withdrawing from the Australian GP won by Carlos Sainz due to a braking problem.

“I mean: you win and you lose,” Verstappen told Sky. “I think we’re all used to that in racing, right?

“Today it was just a bit difficult. I don’t think I felt great even on the mediums. We drove away, but not the way it should have been.

“And once we pitted and I heard the lap times McLaren was doing, I thought, ‘Wow, that’s pretty fast.’

“When they also switched to the hard tire they just had more speed, and especially Lando, he flew.

“It was incredibly difficult for us during that period. But if a bad day is P2, I’ll take it.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, with a bollard in his suspension

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

“And I’m very happy for Lando. It’s a long time ago.

“And it won’t be his last, so yeah, he definitely deserves it today.”

When asked if McLaren’s updated car reflected his true speed, he replied: “I hope not!

“I mean, they came up with an upgrade. Yep, it certainly seems like it’s working. So there is still some work to be done on our part.

“It certainly wasn’t our strongest weekend in terms of race pace, but we will analyze it all and try to come back.”

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who finished third two seconds behind Verstappen, also praised Norris for his “incredible performance”.

“I’m very happy for Lando,” said Leclerc. “He deserves it.

Lando Norris, McLaren F1 Team, 1st position, celebrates with a public pass from his team upon arrival at Parc Ferme

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

“Often he came very close but for some reason he didn’t make it, but today he did a fantastic job.

“He’s been working on it all weekend and I think there was a lap already in Q2 where I thought: ‘Okay, they’re very, very strong’.

“And we expected them to be strong, maybe not as strong as what they showed today. But he fully deserves it.”