Lando Norris dethrones Max Verstappen in the Miami GP and achieves his first victory in Formula 1

Max Verstappen is not invincible. Lando Norris managed to snatch the victory thanks to a Safety Car that came in handy and an infernal pace, showing that McLaren’s improvements work. At the start, the Dutch driver could not escape like on other occasions, but he seemed to have the race under control.

However, the departure of a safety car in the middle of the grand prix has seriously harmed the three-time world champion and has benefited the McLaren team, who has achieved the first victory of his career in Formula 1, redeeming himself from that fateful GP of Russia 2021. It is also the first victory for those from Woking since the Monza GP that same year.

Regarding the Spanish, Carlos Sainz was fourth after a tough battle with Oscar Piastri. Both have collided on a couple of occasions and the Madrid native has managed to pass him at turn 17 in an action that has caused the Australian to have to go through the pits and come out last. The stewards have decided that the incident would be investigated after the race. Fernando Alonso, for his part, managed to come back and be ninth, taking advantage of the start of a Virtual Safety Car to make his stop.

Lando Norris shows that Max Verstappen is not unbeatable

As expected, the race began with a practically unanimous choice of tires: 15 drivers started with the medium, while Hamilton, Alonso, Magnussen and Ricciardo wore the hard one. Bottas was unique with the soft. At the start, Leclerc got off to a very bad start but managed to regain the position thanks to a braking pass by Pérez, who was about to overtake Sainz and even Verstappen.

The Madrid native and the Mexican lost position with Piastri, who placed third. At the back, Alonso initially recovered three positions, but on the second lap Gasly took the place from him. The Asturian was placed in P13. Hülkenberg’s start was also surprising, as he overtook the two Mercedes, moving up to seventh place.

Max Verstappen escaped but not too far, while Piastri passed Leclerc, taking second. In the middle of the grid a large DRS train was formed, with a great battle between Hülkenberg and Hamilton, who gained position from Russell at the start. The seven-time champion had managed to overtake the German but a mistake at turn 17 condemned him, putting him back behind the Haas.

First stops

After a couple of laps, the future Audi driver was overtaken by the two Mercedes, and Alonso lost position with Ocon, revealing the poor pace of the Aston Martin in this grand prix. At the back, many pilots were making their first stop. And in the front, Pérez fell away from the group of Piastri, Leclerc and Sainz, being attacked by Norris.

The one from Guadalajara was the first of the top 6 to enter the pits, putting on a hard tire. The next to do it was Leclerc, while Norris set fast lap after fast lap. All the leading drivers marked sectors in purple and pushed before their stops, going to the limit.

In this situation, Verstappen showed that he is human and makes mistakes, going over the bollard of the bridge curve and causing a Virtual Safety Car, which only Ocon, Alonso and Magnussen could take advantage of. The Dutchman made his stop behind the virtual safety car. The Asturian, for his part, took advantage of the middle wheel that he fitted after passing through the pits, recovering several positions.

A Safety Car that came in handy for Lando Norris

Already halfway through the race, it was the turn of Piastri and Sainz to make stops. Both were very unlucky, since after passing through the pitlane, an accident between Magnussen and Sargeant caused a Safety Car. Norris took advantage of this, who held the lead and managed to maintain it thanks to the safety car. The McLaren driver saved half his stop time and started ahead of Verstappen.

Many drivers also took the opportunity to make a second stop, among them Pérez, putting on the medium tire. The race situation was as follows: Norris was leading, ahead of Verstappen, Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz, Pérez, Tsunoda, Hamilton, Russell and Ocon. After the Frenchman was Alonso, in P11.

In the relaunch, the McLaren man managed to retain the lead and managed to gain more than a second on the three-time world champion, thus freeing himself from DRS. Piastri also dropped from Leclerc and was attacked by Sainz. The man from Madrid tried to overtake the Australian on the outside of turn 11, but he prevented him by throwing him off the track. Despite Sainz’s complaints, the commissioners decided not to investigate the action.

Meanwhile, Norris continued to escape, showing that McLaren’s improvements work and putting pressure on Verstappen. The battle between Sainz and Piastri continued, with both being very aggressive and touching each other at turn 17. The Ferrari driver managed to overtake the McLaren driver, who after the collision had to enter the pits due to damage to the front wing, leaving in last position. The stewards decided they would investigate the incident after the race.

Fernando Alonso’s comeback

Positions were established at the front and the cameras focused on the battle for ninth position between Ocon and Alonso. The Spaniard managed to overtake his former teammate, having to take some risks, since the Alpine’s top speed was very high.

In the last laps, there was hardly any action and the race ended with victory for Norris. Verstappen could not catch up with him at any time and crossed the finish line seven seconds behind the Briton. Leclerc took the last podium position and Sainz was fourth. The top 10 was completed by Pérez, Hamilton, Tsunoda, Russell, Alonso and Ocon, who got Alpine’s first point this season.