Norris takes the first F1 victory of his career, Verstappen has to be satisfied with second place

Lando Norris, 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. 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, which ended up on the track. The virtual safety car briefly drove 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.

On lap 29 the safety car rolled out 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.

Verstappen was able to hold off Leclerc, 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.