In the past, something always came up for Lando Norris. If the car was in good condition, bad luck or the devil of a mistake struck. Most of the time, however, it was the case that the driver got everything out of it, but there just wasn’t enough in the car. That’s why the McLaren command post in Miami held its breath until crossing the finish line on lap 57. Then all the frustration that had been pent up over the last few years exploded.
In the 110th race the knot finally broke. Lando Norris is the 114th winner in the premier class. The Briton let his joy run wild on the run-off lap. In the parc fermé he hugged everyone who was wearing a papaya shirt. Many drivers also came by from colleagues to congratulate. This shows the respect that Norris has earned.
On the podium, the premiere winner then banged the champagne bottle on the floor in his usual style before he was allowed to receive the first winner’s trophy of his career. He was the 21st driver from the Kingdom to have the British anthem played after a race.
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Lando Norris announced a long night of partying in Miami along the way.
Champagne party in the paddock
After a short stop at the press conference, the party continued in the paddock. Bright orange baseball caps were unpacked from some box and distributed to all team members. Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur also stopped by the neighbor and picked up a hat. Then champagne was sprayed again until half the paddock smelled of alcohol.
There was no end to the celebrations in sight. Norris actually wanted to fly back to Europe that evening. But these plans were quickly canceled. “I definitely won’t sleep tonight. I’ll probably have a few more scratches on my nose tomorrow. But that doesn’t matter. After all, it only happens once that you celebrate your first victory.”
In the gallery we show you the highlights of the race again.