Lando Norris has stated he was informed by Donald Trump that the former United States president was his “lucky charm” after his first Formula 1 grand prix win.
Norris prevailed at the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday, taking the checked flag ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
It marked Norris’ maiden trip to the top step of the podium at his 110th grand prix start as he benefited from a safety car intervention before pulling a gap to his rivals in the final 20 laps.
McLaren had Trump, who is running for re-election this year, as a guest during race day in Miami.
“I didn’t see him in the garage, to be honest,” Norris told media including RacingNews365. “I was busy prepping for the race.
“But he saw me after, and he came up to congratulate me.
“So I guess an honor, because whenever you have someone like this, it has to be an honor for them to come up to you, to take time out of their life, to pay their respect for what you’ve done.”
Norris has ‘a lot of respect’ for Trump
Norris has now scored three podiums at the last four races and currently sits fourth in the drivers’ championship.
With Miami breaking his streak of trips to the podium without a win, the Briton revealed what Trump said to him after the victory.
“He said he was my lucky charm because it’s my win,” Norris added. “So I don’t know if he’s going to come to more races now.
“But there’s a lot of special people or cool people that have been here this weekend. Donald is someone that you got to have a lot of respect for in many ways.
“For anyone like that who acknowledges what you can go out and do and acknowledges the work ethic that goes into things, you got to be thankful for that, and I was.
“[It was] a cool moment, that’s all.”
