Despite Years of Friendship From McLaren Days, BFF Carlos Sainz Misses Out on Lando Norris’ Miami GP Bender

Lando Norris is now part of an elite group of Formula 1 drivers who can proudly say that they have won a Grand Prix. And to celebrate his maiden victory, the British driver stayed the night on Sunday to go all out partying in Miami. And while several of his peers accompanied the McLaren driver as other members of the F1 paddock, a familiar face was missing from his celebrations.

Yes, Carlos Sainz, Lando’s former teammate at McLaren, a duo that famously got dubbed as ‘Carlando‘, and one of his best buddies on the grid was nowhere to be seen in all the instances we’ve seen so far from the celebrations.

Interestingly, a video from the Sunday night party caught the attention of the fans where a person in a red cap was seen alongside Alpine driver Pierre Gasly, rumored to be the Spanish driver of Ferrari. However, a recent post on Instagram from ‘F1 Gossip Official‘ confirmed that it wasn’t Carlos Sainz.

The caption of the post read as follows, “As we had already mentioned in previous posts, Carlos was not at the party, even the girl who sent us some content confirmed that he was not there, in addition to another reliable source who also said that he was not there, but some friends of the driver, enjoyed the nightlife in Miami. Some fans still insisted that the guy in the red cap would be Carlos, but we received a video, which clearly shows the face of the guy who was close to Pierre Gasly and so here you go guys. It’s not Carlos...”

Lando Norris was prepared to get further bruises on his face during his victory celebrations

Despite sustaining a minor injury a week before the Miami Grand Prix, Norris was prepared to go all-out partying after his historic win. He jokingly remarked that the celebrations might leave him even more “scratched up“ than his previous injury, showing his carefree attitude as he savored the moment he had been waiting for so long.

Speaking about his nose injury, Norris said, as reported by the Mirror, “It was just cut on glass, it was just a bit of broken glass, a little bit silly. It looks a lot worse than it is. Everyone thought it was horrendous, but it’s just a little cut. I wish it was a cooler story, but sadly, it is not.”

As for his plans for Sunday night celebrations, Norris mentioned, “I’m not going to sleep. I’m going all the way! I might have more than just a scratch on my nose tomorrow. I don’t care. I’ll enjoy my time. This only happens once when you take your first win.”

Will we see Lando Norris on the top step of the podium more often moving on in the 2024 season? What are your thoughts on the matter?