Lando Norris finally became an F1 race winner at the Miami Grand Prix, beating Max Verstappen by more than seven seconds in his upgraded McLaren – helped by a safety car.
Max Verstappen praised Lando Norris for achieving his first Formula 1 win. Verstappen was in the lead for the first part of the Miami Grand Prix but made a pit stop shortly before the safety car was deployed due to Logan Sargeant’s crash.
At that point, Norris was in the lead and managed to maintain his advantage after also making a pit stop for fresh tires.
After the race resumed, he demonstrated impressive speed in his McLaren to prevent the Red Bull from overtaking him. In addition to that, he increased his lead and was more than seven seconds ahead of Verstappen when he crossed the finish line.
The Dutchman smiled as he acknowledged his inability to prevent his friend from defeating him. Verstappen mentioned that winning and losing are part of racing, and everyone is accustomed to it.
He also stated that the race was challenging for him, particularly with the medium tires as he didn’t feel great. Despite pulling away, it wasn’t as smooth as expected.
“And then once we made the pitstop and I heard what lap times that McLaren were doing I thought, ‘Wow, that’s pretty quick.’ Once they also switched on to the hard tyre, they just had more pace, and especially Lando, he was flying. It was incredibly difficult for us on that stint. But if a bad day is P2, I take it.”
After they both exited their cars, Verstappen embraced Norris tightly in Parc Fermé. Verstappen praised Norris and expressed his happiness that his friend had achieved his first F1 victory after 110 races.
He expressed his happiness for Lando, mentioning that this success has been a long time coming and is just the beginning for him. He believes that Lando deserves this victory.
He was asked if he believed that the speed demonstrated by McLaren reflected what they can achieve with their new upgrades.
In response, he expressed his hope that it was not the case. McLaren introduced an upgrade and it appears to be effective. He acknowledged that there is room for improvement on their side.
Despite not having the best race pace during the weekend, he mentioned that they will review everything and aim to bounce back. In the meantime, Norris found it difficult to process everything as he responded to finally fulfilling his childhood dream.
The 24-year-old remarked, “Took long enough, right?” before using profanity on the live TV broadcast and quickly apologizing afterward.
Norris expressed his excitement about the race, mentioning that it had been a long time coming but he was finally able to achieve it. He expressed his happiness for his entire team, stating that he had finally delivered for them.
Despite the long and tough race, he was thrilled to be on top and feeling ecstatic.
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