Lando Wins at Last

“WOOOOOOOO! WOOOOOOOOO! OH, ‘BOUT [EXPLETIVE] TIME!” screamed Lando Norris as he crossed the finish line of the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, completing his 110th race in F1. But this race was different from those other 109 races; this time, Norris was the first to cross the finish line, finally earning his first-ever Formula Grand Prix win. As he exited his car, this time at the top of the podium, he was greeted by hugs and congratulations from his team, his fans, and even his competitors whom he had beaten out that day. Celebrations ensued and everyone was happy for Norris getting his first win. Behind this incredible event were years of hard work and struggles that had finally paid off.

Hailing from the UK, Norris started racing go-karts at age seven. He thrived despite his tough competition including racers such as future F1 stars George Russell and Alex Albon. In 2014, he bested the two of them on his way to winning the Karting World Championship. His success continued even when he moved to race cars, as he won the British F4 Championship and the European F3 Championship in 2015 and 2017, respectively, and placed second in the F2 Championship in 2018, sandwiched in between his two childhood competitors Albon, who placed third, and Russell, who won the championship. All of this success for Norris, as well as a large number of empty seats in F1, earned him a seat at the McLaren F1 team for the 2019 season, finally reaching the pinnacle of motorsport.

Norris had a pretty successful rookie season, finishing 11th in the Drivers Championship by scoring consistent points throughout the season which helped McLaren place fourth in the Constructors Championship. This success continued into the 2020 COVID season when Norris doubled his points scored and even had his first podium, helping McLaren make it to third in the Constructors Championship. At this point, Norris had solidified himself as one of the most solid drivers on the grid who was still improving and a race win seemed inevitable. 

At the 2021 Russian Grand Prix in Sochi, it seemed as though the day had come. During qualifying, Norris used a gusty strategy of using slick tires on a drying track, which—though risky—allowed him to put in an incredible lap, giving him pole position. Although he fell to second in the first lap of the race, Norris would retake the lead at lap 12, and from there, he kept his solid lead and was on pace to go on and win his first-ever race. However, then came the biggest fear for any leading car: rain. By lap 48, the rain had arrived and some drivers had decided to pit, but with only five laps to go, people didn’t know what to do. Most drivers would pit in the following two laps, but Norris was betting on the rain to calm down and thought he could survive to the end of the race. However, after aquaplaning off the track, he lost his lead and blew his best shot at winning a Grand Prix.

Despite this heartbreak, Norris continued to compete at a high level, scoring tons of points for McLaren, and towards the second half of the 2023 season, he was getting close to the top. He placed second six times in the 2023 season but the racer who consistently finished ahead of him was not an easy one to beat—Max Verstappen. 

In 2023, Verstappen had a record-breaking season, winning all but three races and having arguably the most dominant season of all time. People hoped that in the offseason, something would change to end Verstappen’s reign of terror, but going into 2024, all seemed to be the same. Verstappen had won four of the first five races of the season, with his only failure to win coming from a car failure. However, Verstappen’s margins of victory were slowly smaller and Norris was slowly improving and coming into Miami, it seemed as though there was a chance for Norris to pull off a Miami Miracle. 

Despite the good weather, the weekend did not start off very hot. During sprint qualifying, Norris finished a disappointing P9 and had to retire from the sprint after a collision with Lance Stroll. Norris was able to come back strong in qualifying though, securing a solid P5. To win the race, Norris would need to race extremely well, but also get a little bit of luck. The first half of the race seemed like a typical race; Verstappen with a comfortable lead and Norris racing well, keeping his P5. However, something unusual happened as Verstappen made a mistake and ran through a chicane, knocking a bollard into the track, and causing a virtual safety car. At this point, Verstappen and most of the other racers decided to pit but Norris didn’t; he was taking a risk which, if it paid off, would give Norris the proper lead of the race. Norris just needed a safety car. And then in lap 28, during a fight between Logan Sargent and Kevin Magnussen over 18th place, Sargent would lose control, crash into the wall, and as a miracle for Norris, the safety car came out. At this point, Norris was able to pit for fresh tires while retaining his first-place position, putting him in an ideal position to get his first win. The one thing he had to deal with though, was not a simple problem. Once again, it was Verstappen. However, this time, things went differently. Norris was able to successfully defend against Verstappen during the safety car restart and incredibly, drive his McLaren to form a gap between him and Verstappen. Norris would go on to finish the last laps comfortably and finally, after years of hard work and being so close, Lando Norris had finally won his first Grand Prix.

This success for Norris was not a fluke, as in the following race at Imola, he placed second, finishing only 0.7 seconds behind Verstappen. Verstappen still holds a comfortable lead in the championship with almost 50 points separating him from his closest competition, but the gap behind him is starting to close and he is seeming less and less invincible. For Norris, he’s a stunning fourth in the championship with 101 points and is only 12 points off Charles Leclerc, who is second in the championship. With the McLaren car looking strong and Norris continuing to compete at the top of the field, we could see a championship shaken up by this young, fun team and driver.