It was a mega weekend for McLaren, as Lando Norris got the better of the final boss of the grid, Max Verstappen, to claim the first race win of his career at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix. 15 times, the young British driver stood on the podium, but he had never reached the highest step until now.
The British driver’s dream is realised once he zooms past the checkered flag with ease, boasting almost an eight-second lead from the trailing Max Verstappen. This marks not just a light at the end of the McLaren tunnel, but it also proves that Red Bull are indeed beatable.
The last time Verstappen finished a race and didn’t win was back in the 2023 Singapore Grand Prix, where Carlos Sainz led the way with Norris and Hamilton completing the podium. Verstappen maintained his perfect 2024 pole record, and it looked like the Dutchman was poised for a patented Red Bull win once he came out of turn one as the race leader, a theme SBOTOP F1 fans are too familiar with.
Norris found himself as the race leader when his rivals went to the pit lane on lap 28, while McLaren opted to keep Norris out on the track and hope to gain a considerable lead from the pack. The young Brit was able to maintain his position even after a safety car was deployed in lap 30 due to Logan Sergeant’s mishap with Kevin Magnussen.
The McLaren driver showed the best drive of his career to finish the Miami Grand Prix, snagging his first career win and McLaren’s first win since Daniel Ricciardo’s Monza 2021 victory. This is just McLaren’s second Grand Prix win in the last 12 years, so Papaya fans should hold their winning Miami Grand Prix 2024 results dearly and hope that McLaren can stay consistent moving forward.
“About time!” Norris exclaimed and smiled afterwards. “What a race. It’s been a long time coming, but finally I’ve managed to do it. I’m so happy for my whole team; I finally delivered for them. A long day, tough race, but finally on top, so I’m over the moon.”
Elsewhere, another McLaren driver stood tall on the podium, as Bianca Bustamante, McLaren’s F1 Academy driver, secured a P2 finish in Miami. This was a quick redemption arc for the 19-year-old Filipina, who finished Race 1 in P16 after starting at P4.
It’s safe to say that Miami was drenched in papaya orange over the weekend.
Charles Leclerc stays consistent
Meanwhile, Ferrari showed another strong weekend as Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz finished the Miami GP at P3 and P4, respectively. While Carlos Sainz has had more race wins thus far this season than his teammate, Charles Leclerc has been able to finish in P4 or better in all of the races this season, something no other driver has accomplished this campaign.
With his P3 finish in Miami, Leclerc now has three podium finishes in six races, garnering a total of 98 points to boot. With this kind of consistency, Leclerc and Ferrari are definitely spreading their elbows out and proving that the Scarlet Ferraris are poised to give Red Bull a worthy adversary this season.
Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc didn’t waste any time in proving who’s the faster driver in Miami, as both rivals got into it in qualifying, where Verstappen fended off the Monegasque by just 0.141 seconds as the two star drivers finished first and second in qualifying.
Despite the absence of a race win so far this season, Charles Leclerc and his teammate, Carlos Sainz, have garnered the respect and admiration of fans and pundits alike. The only question now is if Ferrari can maintain this much pressure on Red Bull until the last checkered flag of the season is waived.
Lewis Hamilton shows signs of life
It’s been a lacklustre season for Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton and the Silver Arrows. With so much anticipation before the season started, Mercedes’ stock drastically dropped, and the Miami Grand Prix 2024 betting odds justly reflected it.
Hamilton evidently struggles with the W15, and he’s been outdriven by his teammate, George Russell, in every race of the young campaign coming into Miami, but the seven-time world champion showed his best race of the season thus far and was able to finish at a respectable P6, while Russell finished at P8.
Despite Hamilton’s spirited efforts in Miami, he’s still just ninth in the driver standings, trailing fellow Silver Arrow George Russell by 10.
It’s still far from what Hamilton and Mercedes are used to, but their success will ultimately depend on the performance of their seven-time world champion driver, Lewis Hamilton. It may not be a race win or even a podium finish the Silver Arrows have been accustomed to in the past few seasons, but P6 is definitely a good result considering their current status in the sport.
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