Lando Norris claims first win of F1 career, storming to victory at Miami Grand Prix in front of star-studded crowd. Lando Norris won the first race of his Formula One career, storming to victory at the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday in front of a crowd flooded with celebrities. The McLaren driver began the race fifth on the grid, but after claiming the lead, took advantage of a safety car delay midway through the race to pit as leader and re-emerge ahead of his competitors. After the restart, the 24-year-old produced a perfect drive to close out the rest of the race, finishing 7.612 seconds ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in second. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc rounded off the podium with a third-place finish. It was a momentous race for the British driver, who was able to banish previous demons from his long-list of near-misses – Norris jointly holds the record for most podium finishes before a debut win with 15 – and stand proudly as race winner at the 110th time of asking. “I’m just proud. A lot of people doubted me along the way. I’ve made a lot of mistakes over my last five years in my short career but today we put it all together,” Norris told Sky Sports afterwards. “This is all for the team. I stuck with McLaren because I could believe in them and do believe in them. Today, we proved exactly that.” Norris is the 21st driver from the UK to win an F1 race. Sunday’s victory was also McLaren’s first grand prix victory since 2021 – and second in the last 12 years.
