This is the story of how Lando Norris’ maiden win at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix acted as a catalyst for his success and Championship Prospects.
2024 Miami Grand Prix – The Winning Race
May 5, 2024; the day that Lando Norris celebrated his maiden with at the Miami Grand Prix.
The 2024 Miami Grand Prix was one of six Sprint Race weekends across the calendar. As it turned out, the weekend was to be far from the perfect start for Norris.
Triggered by the wheels of the Aston Martin drivers of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll brushing together, and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton trying to capitalise from this, Norris was unable to make it around Turn 1.
Spun out by Stroll, the British driver was forced to retire from the Sprint Race. He’d qualified for the race down in ninth position.
Norris then qualified in fifth for Sunday’s Race. But it was teammate Oscar Piastri who looked most likely to dominate over his teammate.
Norris ran in sixth for much of the early stages of the Grand Prix. But a mid-race Safety Car would change Norris’ fortunes.
Extending his opening stint, the McLaren driver emerged from the pits in the lead, ahead of closest rival Max Verstappen who was demoted to second.
Able to maintain a calm and collected performance ahead of the Dutch driver, who then experienced balance problems with his car, Norris took his maiden win, finishing +7.612s ahead of Verstappen.
Aftermath of the First Win
“I have no idea what it’s like to win a Formula 1 race, because I’ve never done it, I’m just buying my time, but I know my time is coming and it’s definitely going to come.”
Standing on the top step of the podium for the first time in his F1 career, a visible sense of relief could be seen as Norris soaked up the electric atmosphere.
There is no doubt that the McLaren driver’s maiden win was the catalyst to his continuing success last season.
The Impact of Norris’ Maiden Win
His second win at the 2024 Dutch Grand Prix followed at the end of summer. Two further wins came in Singapore and Abu Dhabi. The latter concluded his sixth year with the team – his strongest yet.
The 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix saw McLaren take first position over Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship for the first time in over a decade. Norris naturally played an instrumental role in this achievement.
Furthermore, the British driver was able to take home second in the 2024 Driver’s Championship, 63 points behind leader Verstappen.
At the beginning of the season, it was clear that neither McLaren or Norris was expecting to be fighting for both the 2024 Formula 1 Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championship.
“I don’t think I was, or we were as a team mentally ready to be […] and execute it perfectly. As much as we would like to believe we were, we weren’t.”
However, Norris’ winning mentality was something that was quickly learnt and embodied by the Britain as the season progressed.
“I think I was happy with how just calm I was, how focused I was. There’s definitely more pressure, there’s more eyes, there’s more nerves, there’s more demands on me making sure I go out and don’t mess up […]. You have to drive better when you get to that point, and I feel like I have.”
Looking Ahead to 2025
So far, although 2025 is once again looking like McLaren’s year, it will be no easy feat for Norris to take his first Drivers’ Championship.
A win at the season opener in Australia saw the British driver pick up where he left off with the first victory of the 2025 season.
However, he has since been succeeded by teammate Piastri in China and Bahrain. Then, last time out in Saudi Arabia, the Australian also took the lead of the Championship.
Norris admitted that he is “not confident or comfortable” and “things are not clicking” as they once were.
However, with 19 races left to go, the McLaren driver’s determination and consistency may see him take deserved victory. Can he do it again in Miami? We’ll have to wait and see.
Featured Image Credit: McLaren Racing
Get 10% off all official F1 Merch at TheRaceWorks.com using code ‘EF1‘ at checkout.