Lando Norris believes his first F1 victory was “a long time coming” after his win at the Miami Grand Prix.
After 110 Grands Prix, Norris finally stood on the top step of an F1 podium on Sunday, becoming the 21st British driver to win a race.
The 24-year-old took advantage of a timely safety car to lead Max Verstappen with 25 laps to go and held his nerve to become Formula 1’s 114th race winner.
“I don’t know what I feel! I’m just happy and proud. It feels like it’s been a long time coming,” Norris told Sky Sports F1.
“I feel like we had a lot of opportunities. We’ve gotten closer and closer.”
“We never quite got it right and today was that day. We were good all weekend.”
“Even though we had some setbacks – qualifying on Friday, the sprint, not the best qualifying on Saturday – I stayed positive. And that rarely happens!”
“It was a perfect match. We were fast all day. I had a good strategy, a good plan. I stayed out of trouble in turn one because it was very tight. I just concentrated on our race and we were fast.” .
“Of course we were a bit lucky with the safety car. But even after that, the pace was by far the best on the track.”
“I have to thank the team. Without that, this wouldn’t be possible.”
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Lando Norris felt there was a chance of winning in Miami as soon as the safety car came out, knowing his pace was good.
Norris: I was confident when the safety car came out
Norris had the full upgrade package from McLaren in Miami and made a quick impression from the first practice session.
However, Norris had an accident in the first corner of Saturday’s sprint and qualified fifth for Sunday’s race.
At first it looked like a battle for victory between Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz and Norris’ teammate Oscar Piastri, but Norris took advantage of the safety car due to the collision between Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant before driving away from Verstappen.
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Zak Brown congratulates the entire McLaren team for giving Lando Norris his first Grand Prix victory in Miami.
“As soon as the safety car came out. I was already feeling very good beforehand. The pace was incredible, the pace was better than Max and everyone else,” said Norris.
“I was way behind but knew there could have been opportunities. Hard work became happiness. It wasn’t just luck. Things were going well and that little extra helped me.”
“As soon as the safety car came out, I didn’t think Max would have me here. I was confident.”
“I didn’t perform the best on the restart. I defended myself until the first corner and from then on it was pretty easy.”
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Lando Norris celebrates in style by crowd surfing with his McLaren team and being congratulated by rival drivers.
The respect of the drivers is the best thing after a win
Norris was originally scheduled to fly out of Miami after the race, but postponed his flight until Monday to continue the celebrations.
After the race, almost the entire field congratulated him as he celebrated victory with his McLaren team.
“It’s incredible. That’s the best part of all, the people you respect and the people you compete against. When Fernando walks up to you and Lewis walks up to you, those are the people I’ve looked up to since I was a kid,” he said.
“The fact that I’m competing against them and … they’re probably not happy for me deep down, but they’re happy for me and I really respect that and I’m grateful for that.”
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Lando Norris pulls away from Max Verstappen during the safety car restart at the Miami GP.
Norris pays tribute to De Ferran
Norris also paid tribute to former McLaren sports director and advisor Gil de Ferran, who died at the end of last year.
De Ferran gave Norris advice as the British driver adjusted to life in Formula 1 after joining the championship in 2019.
“He helped us a lot. He said I would win a race in the next few years and I did, so kudos to Gil too,” Norris said.
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Sky F1’s Ted Kravitz reflects on all the key talking points from the Miami Grand Prix, where Lando Norris took his first win in Formula 1.
“My dad probably wishes he had come here! But this was for my family, not just my mother and father.”
“I’ve traveled a lot, I spend a lot of time away. They have helped me from the beginning – my brother, my sisters, my grandparents, everything is there for them.”
Formula 1 heads to Europe as Imola returns to the calendar after last year’s canceled race. Watch the Emilia Romagna GP from May 17th to 19th. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month membership – no contract, cancel anytime
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