When the dust settled on Sunday night the F1 world welcomed its latest winner – and a very popular one at that.
Lando Norris, so often the nearly man in recent years, has finally done it.
The British driver may have got a helping hand from the Safety Car, but there was no doubt he deserved it.
Norris shed the unwanted record of the most podiums without a win (15) in his sixth season in F1. It’s astonishing it has taken this long with his talent.
In the aftermath of the race, he and McLaren should have been swigging champagne.
However, photos of Donald Trump cosying up to the McLaren team members is what unfortunately caught my eye.
Trump and McLaren
Now, Donald Trump and McLaren are free to do whatever they please.
It’s understandable that the former US President may have history with McLaren Racing CEO, Zak Brown. He has been involved with most powerful figures in American business over the last few decades.
But we cannot ignore the humongous elephant in the room. Donald Trump is in the middle of a hush money trial.
For those who have been living under a rock, Trump has been charged with 34 counts of fraud, related to hush-money that was paid to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 US election.
He has pleaded not guilty, arguing the allegations he faces are not criminal.
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Trump is also the presumptive Republican nominee for the 2024 US election. He is currently balancing his time between campaigning and appearing at the trial.
It has been widely reported that a friend of Trump’s had planned to hold a fundraiser in F1’s Paddock Club charging $250,000 a ticket.
Thankfully, the request was blocked by race organisers.
This should have been warning sign about what Trump had planned during his visit to the Miami GP.
He is a calculating individual and knows which buttons to press to get people on side.
It was no surprise then when he duly posted to his millions of followers championing his partnership with McLaren.
He wants the U.S to win, just like McLaren did. And no doubt, he hopes to win in November to become President Trump again.
One rule for drivers, another for the boss?
Controversy has followed Mohammed Ben Sulayem since he was elected to run motor racing’s governing body, the FIA.
Ben Sulayem used one of his first press conferences as president to make a jibe at the current crop of drivers.
“Niki Lauda and Alain Prost only cared about driving,” he said.
He has criticised drivers making political statements; and made inflammatory comments about women’s intelligence.
The former rally driver was also recently cleared of interfering with the 2023 Saudi Arabian GP.
But I digress.
Considering his history, you would think that he would oppose the decision to bring Trump into the garage.
And yet, there he was. Smiling away arm in arm with Zak Brown and Trump.
Even Lando Norris posed for a picture. But it would be hard not to smile after winning your first race in Formula One.
Clearly this kind of politics – and perhaps a healthy relationship with the future US President – is allowed in Formula One after all.
It would not be a surprise to see Trump sporting some papaya orange if he decides to attend Vegas and COTA later in the season.
It will be interesting to see if he makes such a fuss if the team don’t win the race.
Hamilton took issue with the FIA’s jewellery ban and led to this response in a press conference after the decision
A chequered relationship with morality
Formula One’s history with morality and ethics has been questionable for a long time.
It’s driver line-up has never been diverse, we are still a long way from a woman driving in the sport and the nations featured on the calendar are increasingly ruled by the super-wealthy elite.
In short, this isn’t the first time that F1 would have been on the wrong side of politics.
Those who have followed the sport for a while will remember the scenes in Bahrain 2013 after a car blast led to increased security during the race weekend.
However, this feels different. F1 is becoming so popular and globalised that is could become a political tool. That will be something that Trump could look to exploit in the future.
As the sport increasingly turns to the US with its vast land and finance to prop up a race weekend anywhere around the country, its important that we keep politicians separate from our sport.
That goes for Trump as well as Joe Biden and any other political leader in attendance.
Come and enjoy the sport. Don’t turn it into a publicity stunt.
We already have celebrities pretending to know the ins and outs of a DRS Zone each week.
Don’t let the politicians do it too.
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