It's been a long time in coming but Lando Norris finally clinched his maiden Grand Prix race victory for McLaren, beating Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc in outstanding fashion at Miami International Autodrome.
Having started from fifth place, Norris worked his way up and was yet to pit meaning he was in the lead of the race when a safety car was scrambled for Logan Sargeant being forced off by Kevin Magnussen.
Verstappen and Leclerc both looked off their usual pace on Sunday. Carlos Sainz survived a fierce battle with Oscar Piastri to finish fourth ahead of a sluggish Sergio Perez, who just held off Lewis Hamilton for P5.
It was another hot and sunny day in Miami ahead of the Grand Prix with track temperatures hitting 43C as the cars headed to the grid. Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc were reunited on the front row for the second time this weekend after Saturday's Sprint. Behind them, Carlos Sainz was third alongside Sergio Perez, followed by all-McLaren (Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri) and all-Mercedes (George Russell and Lewis Hamilton) line-ups on the next two rows. The majority of drivers were on mediums but Hamilton opted to start on the hard compound.
When the lights went out, Verstappen got a fine launch while Leclerc struggled badly. The Red Bull sailed into the first corner very much in control as Leclerc found himself going backwards. He was passed by Sainz and Perez, but the Mexican was running wild and locked up, running wide into turn 1. It opened the door for Leclerc to regain P2 and for Piastri to sneak through for third.
There was plenty of action further back as well. Nico Hulkenberg jumped Hamilton for eighth with the Mercedes battling hard over the next few laps to get back ahead. Meanwhile Alpine team mates Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were fighting it out side-by-side through turns 14, 15 and 16, with Gasly emerging just in front and taking off in pursuit of Fernando Alonso for 12th.
Piastri had managed to get within DRS range of Leclerc, and he made a successful move on the Monegasque down the inside of turn 17 on lap 5. Leclerc was struggling with his rear tyres and too busy holding off Sainz to make any counter attack. Piastri now had his sights set on catching the race leader, but Verstappen was already 2.5s down the road.
Hamilton finally succeeded in passing Hulkenberg on lap 10. The Haas was left defending against Russell, who finally made it past on lap 13. Hulkenberg responded by joining a growing number of cars including Lance Stroll, Valtteri Bottas, Alex Albon and Williams team mate Logan Sargeant in heading to pit lane for their first stops. The Haas rejoined in P15, coming back out just behind RB's Daniel Ricciardo.
Perez was in on lap 18 to for a new set of hard tyres, earlier than planned but necessary after flat-spotting his first set of mediums in that first lap lock-up. Leclerc was in on lap 20 in a bid to undercut Piastri, but McLaren didn't take the bait with either of their cars. A short Virtual Safety Car was then triggered by Verstappen hitting a bollard at the chicane allowing a few cars to dive down pit lane, but the timing didn't work for the top four and it was over before they could react.
Red Bull still summoned Verstappen and Perez in for service even though the VSC was concluded. That put Piastri into the lead by almost three seconds from Sainz with Norris just behind, Verstappen back out in fourth ahead of Leclerc and Hamilton. A listless Perez was down to seventh, leading from Yuki Tsunoda and Zhou Guanyu and Ricciardo holding the final points position in P10.
Piastri and Sainz pitted on lap 28, as did Hamilton, leaving Norris in charge when a safety car was scrambled following an accident for Logan Sargeant. The Williams had been hit by Kevin Magnussen at turn 3 and thrown off into the wall. Despite some confusion about the safety car picking up Verstappen instead of Norris, McLaren were still able to bring Norris in for his pit stop and put him back out in the lead ahead of Verstappen, Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz and Perez for the restart on lap 33.
It was a nervy launch from Norris, but having tyres that were eight laps younger enabled him to hold off Verstappen. Leclerc made a bid to pass the Red Bull, and while it didn't work it did allow Norris to scamper out of DRS range with the fastest lap of the race so far. Further back, the timing of the safety car had been unkind to Piastri and Sainz who were locked in a fierce duel over fourth. A switchback to mediums under the caution had done little for Perez' competitiveness as he held up Hamilton, Tsunoda, Russell and Ocon.
Norris was still pulling away from Verstappen who was declaring a "disaster" with handling issues on the Red Bull. Further back, the Piastri/Sainz battle boiled over on lap 37 with contact between them at turn 17. Sainz took the position, leaving Piastri with front wing damage that forced him to pit sending him tumbling out of the top ten and promoting Alonso into the points.
Norris continued to pull away to the sort of dominant showing hitherto reserved purely for Verstappen. To the delighted cheers of the fans in the grandstand, he had a massive 7.6s advantage over Verstappen at the chequered flag followed by Leclerc and Sainz. If there were any doubt about Norris' popularity in F1 then they were emphatically squelched by the celebrations in every corner of the circuit and paddock, as he declared: "Thanks mum! Thanks dad! This one's for my Grandma!" over the McLaren team radio.
Honestly, not a dry eye in the house.
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