Aditya ChaudhuriWe were all set for Max Verstappen securing another dominant win at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, but a rare error from the reigning World Champion opened up the avenue for the others, and it was McLaren’s Lando Norris who grabbed the opportunity with both hands, picking up in the process his first-ever career win and becoming the first driver not from Red Bull, Ferrari, or Mercedes to win a race since his former teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who won for McLaren in Italy in 2021.
It wasn’t a total disaster for Verstappen, though, as he came home in second place ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who rounded out the podium places. Carlos Sainz finished fourth, with Sergio Pérez in fifth ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Yuki Tsunoda, George Russell, Fernando Alonso, and Esteban Ocon (in that order) rounding out the top ten places.
It was nearly all over for Red Bull on the very first turn as Pérez almost took out his teammate in the opening lap, but Verstappen survived, holding on to the lead, with Leclerc also making sure he didn’t get caught up in the Mexican’s mishap.
Behind them, Oscar Piastri made up places from P6 to P3 inside the opening lap, while Hamilton dropped to P10 from P8. While Verstappen built his lead over Leclerc, Piastri got the Ferrari driver on Lap 4, with Pérez dropping to P5, behind the second Ferrari.
Alex Albon was the first driver to pit on Lap 11, with Sauber-bound Nico Hülkenberg coming in a lap later. Within a couple of laps, all the drivers had gotten their first pit stop out of the way except Hülkenberg’s teammate, Kevin Magnussen.
Race leader Verstappen seemed to be cruising to another comfortable win, but the Dutchman made a rare driver error on Lap 22, clipping a bollard on the chicane, which brought out the Virtual Safety Car. The triple World Champion pitted a couple of laps later, re-joining in P4 after a quick stop.
Norris took the lead of the race on Lap 27. By Lap 45, he was a good five seconds clear of Verstappen, who was struggling with a Red Bull car that was not turning as he wanted it to. Behind the top two, it was Leclerc holding off Sainz, with Pérez in P5 ahead of Hamilton and Tsunoda, with Russell, Ocon, and Fernando Alonso in the top ten.
Even though Verstappen pressed in the last few laps, Norris had built a solid lead over him, and, unlike his mishap in Russia a few years ago, he managed to bring it home without any incidents, picking up his maiden career win in Formula One in his sixth season. Behind him, it was Verstappen ahead of Leclerc leading the two Ferraris and Pérez in P5.
Verstappen’s second-place finish at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix earns him a 35-point lead over his teammate in the Drivers’ Standings with 136 points, while Leclerc is creeping up on Pérez as well, being just three points behind.
Red Bull continue to extend their lead in the Constructors’ Championship as well, sitting on top with 237 points, while Ferrari are second with 189. McLaren’s win sees them consolidate third place with 124 points.
Racing will again resume in two weeks’ time as we head to Imola, Italy, for the 2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix — a non-Sprint weekend.
