“I’ve counted days, I counted miles. To see you there, to see you there. It’s been a long time coming, but,” these lyrics of Taylor Swift’s Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince best describe what happened in the Miami GP. Lando Norris stood on the top step of the podium, and the world rejoiced. The curse was finally broken. Now, it was time for McLaren CEO Zak Brown to honor Lando and a peculiar tradition. And a few weeks later, he did!

McLaren has one of the richest legacies in the sport of Formula 1. Greats like Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Fernando Alonso, and Lewis Hamilton have driven for the Woking-based team. However, in the past decade, the team has been shy about replicating past glory. In 2021, when Max Verstappen’s car was left parked on top of Hamilton’s, a chaotic race opened avenues for the Papaya team to finally register a 1-2. Daniel Ricciardo won his eighth GP to end McLaren’s drought. Zak Brown was left so ecstatic that he got the Monza track tattooed on his arm. With Lando Norris’ win in Miami, Zak Brown was under pressure to keep up the tradition, and he did!

This time, the Miami circuit made it to Brown’s arm. McLaren, in a collaborative post with Lando Norris and Zak Brown, made this news public. They captioned the post, “This time for Lando’s win, @ZBrownCEO has done it again! 😂💉 A tattoo of the Miami International Autodrome circuit!” But will the upcoming race weekend give Zak Brown another needle nightmare? Only time will tell.

Can Lando Norris replicate the Miami victory in Canada?

The last time the F1 circus ‘performed’ in North America, the fans were given the best possible present in the form of Norris’ victory. With the clan back on the continent, the most-asked question is if the young Britton can do it again. However, with no representative times on the board yet, one can only rely on the data at hand. Lando himself has declared that the long straights, medium-speed chicane track of Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will best play into the hands of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

Formula One F1 – Australian Grand Prix – Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia – March 24, 2024 Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz Jr. during the press conference after winning the Australian Grand Prix along with second placed Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and third placed McLaren’s Lando Norris REUTERS/Mark Peterson

During the media day, he said, “They are favorites, and with kerb-riding, which is a big part around here, it is going to be close. It is impossible for me to say if it is going to be us, Ferrari or Red Bull on top – and that is exciting because none of us really know and it is going to be very close, as it has the last three or four weeks.”

He added, “But Ferrari is probably the favorite because of the decent straight-line speed, and I know they complained a bit, but they should try and just put a little bit less rear-wing on. But as an all-round car, I think they probably have one that suits this track the best, but we will find out tomorrow.”

Who do you think will win the Canadian GP?