F1 Takeaways: Lando Norris scores well-deserved first win at Miami GP
Kept you waiting, huh? Lando Norris was the big boss Sunday as he finally earned his first win in Formula One after taking the checkered flag at the Miami Grand Prix.
Although only 24 years old, Norris already held the dubious distinction of the driver with the most podium finishes without a win. The McLaren driver entered the weekend with 15 podiums to his name including eight runner-up results. Nick Heidfeld can have that infamous record back, thank you very much.
Norris was victorious along several steps up the ladder to F1 and while you could say this maiden win was inevitable, nothing is guaranteed until it actually happens. Even Norris knew he was due.
“About time, huh?” were the first words Norris said to F1 commentator Jenson Button after he was asked about the win. (Norris also said another word we can’t publish here.)
It wasn’t the perfect weekend for Norris either as bad luck struck during Saturday’s sprint when he was taken out on the opening lap through no fault of his own. Lewis Hamilton saw an opening and squeezed his Mercedes into a closing gap that set off a chain reaction with the Aston Martin pair of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll bumping Norris off the track and out of the sprint. Chalk it up as an opening lap racing incident as the only one penalized was Norris, who was handed a fine and reprimanded for subsequently crossing the live track to return to the pits.
Norris regrouped to qualify fifth for the GP and inherited the lead midway through the race as he remained out on the track while those ahead pitted. That decision proved to be critical as Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant crashed to bring out the safety car and allow Norris to make a “cheap” pit stop as the field slowed to a crawl.
To say it was only because of the safety car isn’t giving Norris nearly enough credit as he retained the lead upon exiting the pits and fended off Max Verstappen after the restart. Norris set the then-fastest lap and built an advantage of more than a second over Verstappen to clear the DRS (drag reduction system) window that would have allowed the Red Bull driver to make a move.
Norris maintained the race pace all the way to the end and crossed the finish line with a 7.612-second advantage over the once dominant Verstappen. No luck involved there.
Norris’ victory was just McLaren’s second win in the past 12 years for the once powerhouse team, but on the weekend featuring Star Wars Day, has the force awakened a new hope? With a name like Lando, why not?
Your wholesome content moment came as friends, former teammates and paddleball partners up and down the grid from Verstappen and Carlos Sainz to George Russell and Daniel Ricciardo congratulated Norris after the victory.
PAPAYA POWER
What a difference a year can make. McLaren was at rock bottom last season in Miami with Norris and Oscar Piastri failing to make it out of the first session of qualifying and finishing 17th and 19th, respectively. It wouldn’t be until another four races after that when things started to turn the corner thanks to mid-season upgrades with Norris finishing fourth in Austria. That was followed by their breakout in Great Britain as Norris came in second and Piastri fourth and the podiums started piling up.
Additional upgrades this week appeared to give them a boost although Piastri wasn’t able to share the wealth Sunday. Piastri collided with Sainz, sustaining damage to his front wing and requiring an extra pit stop that sent him to the back of the pack. The Australian driver managed to finish 13th and set the fastest lap, however, since he was outside of the top 10, he wasn’t awarded the bonus point. Piastri didn’t walk away empty-handed though as he scored three points during the sprint.
BAD DAY STILL GOOD FOR RED BULL
It was shaping up to be another vintage Verstappen weekend as the double-defending Miami winner breezed to victory during Saturday’s sprint and secured pole position for the sixth consecutive GP to start the season (seventh if you want to stretch the streak back to last year).
If anything though, Red Bull should be happy they didn’t have a double-DNF out of the gate as Verstappen nearly got taken out by his own teammate as Sergio Perez locked up into the first turn on the opening lap and dive-bombed right through the leaders.
While Verstappen escaped unscathed from that one, the three-time reigning world champion looked off his game as he ran into a bollard and brought out the virtual safety car on Lap 23 when he deposited the cone on the track.
After the final restart, Verstappen appeared more under threat from Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc behind him than closing the gap to Norris.
Still, second place helped Verstappen extend his championship lead to 35 points over Perez, who finished fourth.
BLUE (DA BA DEE)
The Scuderia Ferrari HP cars sported shades of blue this weekend to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the company’s presence in North America (although they could have been more blue).
A double podium should have been in the cards until Norris swooped into the lead and that may have left them feeling a bit blue.
Leclerc, who did get on the podium in third, cut the gap to Perez for second in the drivers’ championship down to three points. Although Sainz finished fourth on the track, he was handed a five-second time penalty after the race for his collision with Piastri and dropped a spot behind Perez.
TSUNODA MOVIN’ ON UP
Norris wasn’t the only driver to benefit from pitting under the safety car as RB’s Yuki Tsunoda also took advantage en route to finishing seventh.
After going pointless through the first two races of the season, Tsunoda has now finished in the top 10 in three of the past four GPs and also scored points during Saturday’s sprint. With Stroll failing to score points for the third consecutive race, Tsunoda has moved up into the top 10 in the drivers’ standings.
Tsunoda’s teammate Ricciardo turned in a brilliant sprint performance finishing fourth but ended up a disappointing 15th in the actual GP. Ricciardo had a miserable qualifying run and also had to serve a three-place grid penalty incurred during his last outing in China that had him starting last and had him fighting an uphill battle that was too much to overcome.
PIT STOPS
• Back to Stroll as his struggles continue to show the night-and-day difference between him and teammate Alonso. Stroll finished 17th after receiving a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. That occurred while Stroll passed Alex Albon on Lap 52 for 13th — meaning, even if he had made it clean, he was still well out of the points. Meanwhile, Alonso came in ninth and has scored points in every GP this season.
• What was up with Kevin Magnussen this weekend? The Haas driver received three 10-second time penalties plus one five-second time penalty during the sprint and was summonded to the stewards for alleged unsportsmanlike behavior. Although Magnussen was cleared of that charge, he was handed another 10-second penalty during the GP for colliding with Sargeant. We might have to change the “five-second penalty to Ocon” meme to Magnussen.
• Alpine are out of the basement thanks to Esteban Ocon finishing 10th to score the team’s first point of the season. It might not seem like much but that puts Alpine into eighth in the constructors’ championship as Williams and Sauber remain pointless.
• Florida man crashes out: Was the homecoming for Sargeant his final outing in F1? The rumour mill was already running rampant with Sargeant on the hot seat at Williams and potentially being replaced by 17-year-old phenom Andrea Kimi Antonelli. While Sargeant’s exit Sunday wasn’t his fault, the fact of the matter is he’s only scored one point in his two seasons in F1. Sargeant’s time might not be up now, but the window is closing soon. If there is a saving grace it’s that teammate Albon hasn’t scored any points this season either.
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