Donald Trump (right) with winner Lando Norris after his victory. Photo: GIORGIO VIERA / AFP / NTB
McLaren driver Lando Norris (24) took his first Formula 1 victory in his career and was afterwards congratulated by former US President Donald Trump.
Monday 6 May at 09:25
Trump’s visit to Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix has attracted attention.
This is due, among other things, to the fact that he was a special guest of Norris’ team, McLaren, before the race and was seen in eager conversation with McLaren boss Zak Brown.
Afterwards, Lando Norris was congratulated on the victory by Trump, according to photos and videos on various media.
Donald Trump has also seen the opportunity to take his share of the credit for the surprise triumph on Sunday:
– It was a great honor to see my friends at McLaren win the big Miami Formula 1 race. It was the car I visited before the race and supported – that’s what we need for our country – to win! writes the 45th president of the United States on social media.
Trump supporters and Trump opponents argue on social media about his visit.
The criticism of the Trump visit meant that the McLaren team had to issue a message that reads like this, echoed by, among others Newsweek:
“McLaren is a non-political organization, but we recognize and respect the office of President of the United States.
That is why we accepted the request to visit our garage on race day together with the president of the International Motor Sport Federation FIAD. and managing directors of Liberty Media The company that “runs” Formula 1. and Formula 1.
We were honored that McLaren Racing was chosen to represent F1, giving us the opportunity to showcase the world-leading engineering we bring to motorsport.”
– The visit was seen as controversial by some, which led to McLaren defending its decision to welcome him, writes Newsweek.
According to the same Newsweek and a number of other media, the Trump Organization planned to use the Formula 1 race to raise money for the upcoming election campaign. The intention was to sell exclusive tickets for NOK 2.7 million each. But this was stopped by the organizers, who believed that they did not have the opportunity to allow something like that.
Lando Norris thus won his first Formula 1 race, 7.6 seconds ahead of the big favorite and world champion Max Verstappen.
Afterwards, Trump’s visit to McLaren was also a topic at the Norwegian rights holder Viaplay.
– We shall not give Trump the credit for this, smiled the expert Thomas Schie after Norris had won.
In an interview with Viaplay before the race, the likely Republican presidential candidate said:
– This is a big event, I come here as often as I can.
PS: Lando Norris is not American. He holds British and Belgian citizenship. The father is from Bristol and the mother from the Flanders region of Belgium.
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