Lando Norris takes first F1 win at Miami GP

Lando Norris has won a Formula 1 race for the first time in his career, securing victory at the Miami Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver showed dominant pace to get the better of the Ferrari and Red Bulls, with Max Verstappen crossing the line second ahead of Charles Leclerc.

Sergio Perez looked like he made the best start of the front runners, charging past both Ferraris into the first corner, but the Red Bull driver was carrying far too much speed and had to run wide to avoid collecting Leclerc and his teammate.

Oscar Piastri was also quick off the line, picking up three places on the opening lap of the race before passing Leclerc for second.

There was some close racing early on, as the two Alpine drivers went wheel to wheel, while Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hulkenberg almost came together while battling over seventh.

Verstappen was building a comfortable lead at the front of the race when he made an uncharacteristic error, running wide through the runoff and collecting a bollard, which stuck in his front wing before falling off on the racing line a couple of corners later.

Race control left the cars racing for a couple of laps, but several drivers complained about the bollard’s position, with a short virtual safety car period used to allow marshals to clear the debris.

The majority of the front runners still needed to make their pistops as the VSC period began, but they were in the wrong part of the track, allowing only the midfield to come into the pits before the VSC ended.

Verstappen stopped as soon as the VSC finished, but Sainz and the McLarens stayed out longer. Sainz and Piastri pitted moments before Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant had a coming together, bringing out the safety car.

The incident allowed Norris to make his pitstop while the rest of the field was slowed, coming back out in the lead of the race, with Verstappen in second on tyres with more wear than the McLaren.

At the restart, Verstappen put Norris under pressure, but the Briton maintained his advantage before quickly pulling away from the Red Bull.

Sainz and Piastri battled hard over fourth place, with the Spaniard unhappy Piastri didn’t lose a place while running wide, but the stewards ruled the Australian was ahead.

Shortly after, Sainz tried to force his way past the McLaren, and the two made contact, forcing Piastri to have to make a pitstop for a new front wing.

Norris continued to look comfortable at the front of the field, extending his lead to more then five seconds with 10 laps to go.

There was a close battle towards the rear of the field as Piastri, Daniel Ricciardo and Alex Albon all running closely together, but Albon found himself at the back when he ran wide.

Provisional classification:

1 Lando Norris (McLaren)

2. Max Verstappen (Red Bull)

3. Charles Leclerc (Ferrari)

4. Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)

5. Sergio Perez (Red Bull)

6. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

7. Yuki Tsunoda (VCARB)

8. George Russell (Mercedes)

9. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin)

10. Esteban Ocon (Alpine)

11. Nico Hulkenberg (Haas)

12. Pierre Gasly (Alpine)

13. Lance Stroll (Aston Martin)

14. Guanyu Zhou (Alfa Romeo)

15. Oscar Piastri (McLaren)

16. Daniel Ricciardo (VCARB)

17. Valtteri Bottas (Alfa Romeo)

18. Kevin Magnussen (Haas)

19. Alex Albon (Williams)

DNF:

Logan Sargeant (Williams)