Finally came the day that Lando Norris won a Grand Prix! McLaren has worked hard over the past couple of weeks and planned upgrades for the cars, which seem to be working like a charm. Like Max Verstappen said, “Lando was flying.” Although his teammate Oscar Piastri had an incident with Carlos Sainz which put him at the back of the grid, the McLaren driver still managed to clock in the fastest lap of the race.
This shows how far the MCL38 has come, from the start of the season. Now, the Miami Grand Prix will be a moment Lando Norris will cherish forever as the joy of winning the first race is unlike any other. Sadly, Norris did not expect to win the race and already had a flight booked back to Monaco. Lewis Hamilton came to the rescue as he gave some advice that led to Norris abandoning his flight back home to stay back in Miami.
Lewis Hamilton’s advice that ended with Lando Norris partying with Max Verstappen
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The day Lando Norris, Zak Brown, and every single McLaren fan has been waiting for has come. Norris has become a Grand Prix winner and this day will never return in his life. Despite having to celebrate, the Briton driver decided to fly back home with the team. In comes Hamilton to drop a few words of advice to Lando Norris telling him to stay back in Miami and celebrate his first win.
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According to TalkSport, Lewis Hamilton told Sky Sports F1, “I just told him he needs to stay tonight. He’s going to try and change his flight. He’s got to, he’s just won a race.” And stay Norris did! With Max Verstappen! later to be found at a club partying it hard to celebrate this iconic moment in F1 racing.
Max Verstappen has been one of the main reasons it took so long for Lando Norris to get a race win, but when his friend finally did it, the Dutchman along with his girlfriend stayed with the McLaren hero that made the race one of the most interesting ones to watch this season. This is the first race where Max Verstappen was beaten fair and square in a race without him having to retire from the race.
Does this mean Max Verstappen’s domination is ending?
Considering everything that is happening in the F1 scene, it’s getting clear that Ferrari and McLaren are catching up to Red Bull. In the first 6 races of the season, Max Verstappen has not come P1 in 2 races already. Although it was due to being DNF in Australia that Carlos Sainz people can say that took the win, but in this case, there was no such incident.
Lando Norris showcased that the MCL38’s upgrades have made the car a beast that is as strong as the Bulls’. Although Max Verstappen hit a road bollard that led to some damage to the RB20, he had Norris’ tail for several laps where he only lost the gap between the two cars.
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On the other hand, Adrian Newey has decided to make a move out of the Red Bull F1 team which is not great news for Verstappen. With the Mastermind behind the RB20 leaving the team, Red Bull will have its back up against the wall if other teams continue to make progress.
Last year itself, McLaren showed that their midseason developments are no small deal and something even World Championship-winning teams should look out for. Lando Norris’ performance in the race proves just that.
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We congratulate Lando Norris on his well-deserved win and hope he had a safe time at the party. That being said, do you think we will get to see more P1 finishes from Lando Norris in the upcoming races? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.