Surprise in Miami: Lando Norris benefits from safety car and takes first F1 victory of his career, Verstappen has to be satisfied with second place

Lando Norris (24), an Englishman with a Flemish mother, has achieved his first victory in F1. In Miami he was able to use a safety car to stay ahead of Max Verstappen. Charles Leclerc was allowed on the podium.

Max Verstappen (Red Bull-Honda) took pole position and took the holeshot, but things got particularly hot behind him. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) seemed to lose second place, but Sergio Pérez (Red Bull-Honda) dived into the first corner like a bowling ball, forcing everyone out of the way. It allowed Leclerc to regain second place. But Pérez was close to knocking teammate Verstappen out of the race! Oscar Piastri (McLaren-Mercedes) squeezed past Leclerc into second place.

Shortly before halfway through the race, Verstappen made a mistake. He went straight into a chicane and knocked over a post that fell on the track. The came shortly virtual safety car out to remove the obstacle, but the top four could not take advantage of it to make a pit stop. Verstappen nevertheless came in and fell back to P4, behind Piastri, Sainz and Norris.

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On lap 29 the safety car after an incident between Logan Sargeant (Williams-Mrercedes) and Kevin Magnussen (Haas-Ferari). That gave leader Lando Norris (McLaren-Mercedes), the front runner who had not yet stopped, a free pit stop and he came onto the track ahead of Verstappen, with fresher tires. An interesting development: Verstappen who suddenly had to overtake to win, but also felt the hot breath of Leclerc’s Ferrari on his neck.

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Leclerc was able to hold off Verstappen, but he could not match Norris’s times. “No grip at all,” he complained over the on-board radio. The 24-year-old Norris was able to slowly finish and take the first victory of his F1 career.