Key events
Norris is asked how it feels to win for the first time in F1: “About time, man. [Bad word deleted because this is a family website]. It’s been a long time coming but finally I’ve managed to do it. I’m so happy for my whole team, I’ve finally delivered for them. A shout out to my mum and dad of course … People doubted me along the way but today we put it all together.”
Verstappen had won six consecutive races in the US … until today.
Everyone seems thrilled for Norris – including the other drivers. Ricciardo runs over to give him a hug.
Norris rushes over to the McLaren crew and jumps over the barriers and has a wee crowd surf as they hold him aloft.
Norris thanks his mum and dad on the radio and says: “This one is for my grandma.”
Norris had a degree of fortune with the safety car today but he drove aggressively from the start to put himself in the position to gain the lead. And once he had the lead he held on to it brilliantly. He lets out a whoop of joy on the team radio: “I love you all,” he says. And, yes, he means you too.
Lando Norris wins the Miami Grand Prix
And Norris has his first-ever F1 victory! A close to flawless race from Norris who comes the 21st Briton to win an F1 race. Verstappen comes in second, with Leclerc in third.
Lap 56/57: This shouldn’t hurt Verstappen too much if he comes second today: his overall lead in the championship is still large and he’s close to Norris, so there will be some degree of pleasure in seeing his friend win his first race.
Lap 55/57: Norris is extending his lead: the race is his barring disaster. Verstappen has a two-second lead over Leclerc for second place, so he looks fairly safe to finish just behind the Briton in first.
Lap 54/57: Three laps to go. Norris’s lead is 6.918 seconds.
Lap 53/57: Norris has been flawless since the restart of the race. Very few outward signs of nerves as he closes on his first GP victory. Albon is off the track but it doesn’t look like the safety car will make an appearance – good news for Norris.
Lap 52/57: Norris’s lead is now over six seconds with Verstappen in second. Five laps to go.
Lap 50/57: Some all-Aussie action as Piastri and Ricciardo battle for 16th. Ricciardo holds off his countryman for now. Team radio tells Piastri to calm down: they don’t want the safety car out, jeopardising his teammate Norris’s chance at a maiden victory.
Lap 49/57: Nervous looks at McLaren but Norris extends his lead slightly to 5.691sec. Alonso gets Ocon in the end and the Spaniard is up to ninth. Here’s the top 10:
1) Norris
2) Verstappen
3) Leclerc
4) Sainz
5) Perez
6) Hamilton
7) Tsunoda
8) Russell
9) Alonso
10) Ocon
Lap 48/57: Verstappen chips into Norris’s lead but it’s a matter of tenths of a second, which won’t be enough at this stage. Norris leads by 5.220sec.
Lap 47/57: Alonso has a dart at Ocon in ninth but he can’t get past him.
Lap 45/57: Norris is very, very close to his first ever F1 victory, after 110 career starts. His lead is above five seconds now.
Lap 44/57: Norris’s lead nudges above four seconds for the first time since the race resumed.
Lap 43/57: The good news for Piastri: he’s just set the fastest lap. The bad news: he won’t get a world championship point for that because he’s not close enough to the leader (he’s last).
Lap 42/57: Norris is 3.319sec ahead of Verstappen in second. Your top 10:
1) Norris
2) Verstappen
3) Leclerc
4) Sainz
5) Perez
6) Hamilton
7) Tsunoda
8) Russell
9) Ocon
10) Alonso
Lap 41/57: Piastri has had a very bad few laps: Perez and Hamilton overtake him and he has damage to his front wing: he’ll have to pit. His challenge is almost certainly over. He reenters in 19th.
Lap 40/57: “I can’t get the car to turn, it’s a disaster,” says Verstappen on the team radio. Now F1 is not my No 1 sport, but I can drive and I can assure you that not being able to turn a car makes things tricky. Sainz overtakes Piastri into fourth. They’ve had a great battle today.
Lap 38/57: Norris is faster than Verstappen in all three sectors of the lap – the lead is now 2.590sec. Hamilton, on medium compounds, unlike most of the other top 10, is pretty fast in seventh and could move up the field.
Lap 37/57: Sainz and Piastri are having a battle for the Australian’s fourth place, the steward looked into whether Piastri held him off illegally but they say there is no case to answer. Norris’s lead is now up to two seconds.
Lap 35/57: Things are looking good for Norris, who has extended his lead to 1.5 seconds. This would be a big surprise if he can beat Verstappen on a track where he held pole and overtaking is very tricky.
Lap 34/57: The leaders after the safety car and pits:
1) Norris
2) Verstappen
3) Leclerc
4) Piastri
5) Sainz
6) Perez
7) Hamilton
Lap 33/57: The green flag is out aAd the safety car is done. Let’s see how Norris handles this. Norris holds off the champ for now – his tyres are five laps fresher than Verstappen. And Norris is now more than a second clear in first. If he can keep that gap then he should be able to nullify the threat of the DRS.
Lap 32/57: The safety car has done its job and the pack are assembled with Verstappen just behind Norris now, ready for the restart.
Lap 31/57: Magnussen has been given a 10-second penalty for the collision that ended Sargeant’s day.
Lap 31/57: Norris is in the lead after some good fortune with the safety car but I should say he has driven very well, and has the fastest lap today. He also has fresher tyres than Verstappen, which will help.
Lap 30/57: Norris pits and comes back in the lead – some good fortune for him with the field slowed down thanks to the safety car. Norris is ahead of the pack and can extend his lead, this is very good timing for him.
Lap 28/57: Floridian Logan Sargeant has crashed out in his home race, a shame. And the safety car is out, which could play into Norris’s hands. Sargeant gets out of his car and appears to be fine.
Lap 27/57: Norris leads – presumably briefly – after Piastri and Sainz pit. Verstappen is 11 seconds behind in second. But Max should regain his lead when Norris goes into the pit.
Lap 26/57: Verstappen hitting that bollard on the chicane seems to have affected things for everyone: “It’s impossible to see the curb in the chicane,” says Hamilton on the team radio.
Lap 25/57: Verstappen is now on the hard tyres, which most people have switched to after starting on medium compounds. Norris has set a fastest lap, he’s in third.
Lap 24/57: Verstappen pits – it’s a nice rapid one – and Piastri leads for now. Doesn’t look like there was any damage from when max hit that cone as he’s in and out of the pit lane quickly. Verstappen is back on track in fourth place.
Lap 23/57: The virtual safety car is on after that cone drifted into the track. Someone will remove it – it could be dangerous if that flies into a car or the crowd. And the goal appears to have been achieved as the virtual safety car is now done.
Lap 22/57: A rare lapse from Verstappen who clips a bollard on a chicane but it bounces off into the middle of the track and doesn’t affect him too much. They may need the virtual safety car while they clear the debris.
Lap 20/57: Your Top 10:
1) Verstappen
2) Piastri
3) Sainz
4) Norris
5) Hamilton
6) Leclerc
7) Russell
8) Tsunoda
9) Perez
10) Ocon
Lap 19/57: Perez is into the pits and Norris moves up into fifth. Perez reenters in ninth. Verstappen’s lead is up to 3.5sec. Leclerc pits and reenters in sixth after a fast pit of just under two seconds.
