Month: May 2024

Lando Norris finally scored his first Formula 1 race victory in the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, thanks to the mid-race safety car which helped the McLaren driver to beat Max Verstappen.

The victory ends Lando’s streak as having the most podiums without a Grand Prix victory, with McLaren scoring its first such win since the 2021 Italian Grand Prix after Oscar Piastri’s 2023 Qatar sprint race success.

At the start, Verstappen made a smooth getaway while Leclerc fell backwards off the start line and got swamped before the late-braking Sergio Perez nearly wiped out Verstappen and pushed others including Norris wide at Turn 1, which allowed Leclerc back to second.

As Verstappen escaped to a healthy lead of a few seconds, Piastri edged ahead of Sainz as the first corners of lap one of 57 unfolded to run third behind Leclerc.

The Ferrari driver then slid around more on the mediums all the leaders had started on and without DRS to Verstappen ahead Piastri was able to pass by and then led the Ferrari drivers for much of the first stint.

Behind, Perez held up Norris a bit further back from the fight for second before he became the first of the leaders to pit for hards on lap 17.

Leclerc, who Sainz wanted to be waved by, then pitted at the end of lap 19, shortly after which Verstappen made a mistake at the chicane, knocking a bollard off the kerb and carrying it through his car until he reached the exit of Turn 16.

When this fell off a virtual safety car was called so the marshals could retrieve the bollard, after which Verstappen stopped at the end of lap 23.

Four laps later, Piastri and Sainz pitted, which meant Norris, who had been reducing Sainz’s previous advantage with a string of fastest laps, moved into the lead.

His race was then transformed when Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant collided at Turn 2, with the Haas driver penalised for leaving his nose alongside the right rear of the Williams as they headed off to Turn 3, with the contact pitching Sargeant off backwards and the wreckage having to be cleared under the safety car.

McLaren was able to pit Norris then, although he did a full lap at the safety car delta speed before coming in to switch to the hards and subsequently getting out ahead of Verstappen, who had been picked up by the safety car before he and the rest were waved through.

The race restarted on lap 33, with Norris having to defend hard at Turn 1’s inside against Verstappen’s attack before the McLaren driver was able to shoot clear to escape DRS over the first lap back at racing speed.

Leclerc was close enough to Verstappen to have a look to Turn 11’s inside on this lap before he dropped back out of DRS to the Red Bull and it became a fight at the front.

But Norris’s hards being six laps younger provided a critical advantage, as ten laps later his lead had reached the three-second mark – his rival ruing his RB20 understeering on the hards, a situation Verstappen called a “disaster” over his team radio.

With five laps left, Norris’s lead was up to 6.1 seconds and he continued to pull away to a final winning margin of 7.6 seconds, with Leclerc 2.3 seconds further back in third.

Sainz ended up fourth after two controversial battles with Piastri post-restart. Then first involved both drivers going deep at Turn 11 on lap 34, with Sainz feeling he was pushed off but the stewards not deeming the incident worthy of a penalty.

On lap 39, Sainz attacked at Turn 17 at the end of the back straight but lost the rear of his car and, as it swung around it, hit Piastri’s front wing and broke it, with both drivers able to continue battling to Turn 1 where Piastri went deep and Sainz could run clear.

Piastri was then passed by Perez and a resurgent Lewis Hamilton at Turn 11 shortly afterwards, with McLaren soon pitting him to replace his front wing and dropping him to the back of the field.

Oscar battled back to finish P13 – McLaren warning him during fights not to have another clash and risk the safety car reappearing and erasing his team-mate’s lead.

Another safety car stopper, Yuki Tsunoda, finished seventh, ahead of George Russell and Fernando Alonso, who fought his way by Esteban Ocon late on.

With P10, Ocon scores Alpine’s first point of the 2024 season.

So congratulations to Lando Norris in winning his first Formula 1 race. Been a long time coming and yet fully deserved it. Brilliant team effort by McLaren and this result is an excellent reward for the hard work. Hopefully the first of many for Lando.

Miami Grand Prix, race results:
1 Lando Norris McLaren 1:30:49.876
2 Max Verstappen Red Bull +7.612s
3 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +9.920s
4 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +11.407s
5 Sergio Perez Red Bull +14.650s
6 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +16.585s
7 Yuki Tsunoda RB +26.185s
8 George Russell Mercedes +34.789s
9 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +37.107s
10 Esteban Ocon Alpine +39.746s
11 Nico Hulkenberg Haas +40.789s
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine +44.958s
13 Oscar Piastri McLaren +49.756s
14 Zhou Guanyu Sauber +49.979s
15 Daniel Ricciardo RB +50.956s
16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber +52.356s
17 Lance Stroll Aston Martin +55.173s
18 Kevin Magnussen Haas +64.683s
19 Alex Albon Williams +76.091s
Logan Sargeant Williams DNF

Max Verstappen achieved his sixth pole position of the season by taking his usual spot in qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix, beating both Ferraris.

Verstappen posted a time of one minute, 27.241 seconds to lead Charles Leclerc by 0.141 seconds on the first runs in Q3, where they were trailed by Carlos Sainz.

On the final runs, although Verstappen set the session’s fastest time in the first sector, the leading trio could not better their previous best times – Leclerc in particular having a wild time on this final lap.

Sergio Perez did find time on his final Q3 go to jump to fourth position, while Lando Norris took fifth having run mediums on his first Q3 effort.

This pair improving shuffled Oscar Piastri down to sixth on the second Q3 runs, while the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton took seventh and eighth.

Both Mercedes drivers had to run mediums for the last Q3 laps after running out of new soft compound, but only Hamilton went quicker with the yellow-walled tyres.

Behind, Nico Hulkenberg was ninth and Yuki Tsunoda took tenth, with the only significant incident in Q3 being Sainz getting cleared of impeding Hulkenberg at Turn 17 late on.

In Q2, Russell’s last-gasp effort knocked out Lance Stroll, who was joined by Alpine pair Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon – both drivers failing to set personal best times on their final runs in the middle segment.

Behind, Alex Albon’s late personal best pushed Fernando Alonso down to P15.

In Q1, Alonso just managed to get through with an 0.01 seconds ahead of Valtteri Bottas in P15 and P16, with home hero Logan Sargeant eliminated in P17 behind Bottas.

Sprint qualifying and race hero Daniel Ricciardo was also knocked out in P18, complaining of lacking rear grip. The RB driver will drop down to last on the grid following a three-place grid penalty for overtaking under safety car conditions in the previous race at China.

Kevin Magnussen lost time with traffic at the final corner on his last Q1 lap, while Zhou Guanyu faces a post-session stewards investigation for pushing in front of Ricciardo when before the pitlane opened for the first segment and for crossing the pit exit line late in Q1.

So a simply lovely Saturday for Max Verstappen. Winner in the sprint race and now pole position for the Miami Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver is looking strong for the race but can the Ferraris be able to challenge? We shall find out on race day.

Miami Grand Prix, qualifying results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:27.241
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.382
3 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:27.455
4 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:27.460
5 Lando Norris McLaren 1:27.594
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:27.675
7 George Russell Mercedes 1:28.067
8 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:28.107
9 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:28.146
10 Yuki Tsunoda RB 1:28.192
11 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:28.222
12 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:28.324
13 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:28.371
14 Alex Albon Williams 1:28.413
15 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:28.427
16 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 1:28.463
17 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:28.487
18 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:28.619
19 Zhou Guanyu Sauber 1:28.824
20 Daniel Ricciardo RB 1:28.617*
*Three-place grid penalty for overtaking under the safety car in the Chinese Grand Prix

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen won the second sprint of the season beating Charles Leclerc in the Miami Grand Prix.

At the start, Leclerc appeared to gain well against Verstappen before the polesitter went left and made sure of the lead into Turn 1, where Leclerc saw off Sergio Perez’s attentions and that allowed Daniel Ricciardo to get ahead into third as they raced away.

Lando Norris never got that far as he was taken out on Turn 1’s outside line – the McLaren an innocent victim of a chain of events involving Hamilton braking very late on the inside and hitting Fernando Alonso, who was also close to Lance Stroll and they collided, which collected into Norris.

As the McLaren was left stranded on the inside – with Stroll later retiring in the pits the next time by – the safety car was called out before the restart of lap four of 19.

Verstappen aced the restart and immediately pulled out of DRS threat to Leclerc for when the system was finally activated for the first time on lap 5, during which Perez easily got back by Ricciardo with a DRS run down the back straight.

Perez could not then get quickly after Leclerc, who stuck close to Verstappen as they lapped in the low one minute, 31 second gap no one else could reach.

By the halfway stage, Verstappen led Leclerc by 2.2 seconds, with Perez finally starting to edge closer back towards Leclerc as Ricciardo held off Carlos Sainz.

Verstappen then reported his car balance and degradation were “terrible” with “zero rear grip, like quali”, at which point on lap ten Leclerc closed back in on the lead to bring the lead back under two seconds.

The gap was swinging between the two, but Verstappen eventually pulled away to win by 3.3 seconds, with Perez reducing Leclerc’s advantage through the race’s final third to finish 1.7 seconds further behind in third.

Ricciardo held off Sainz’s race-long attentions in fourth and fifth, with Oscar Piastri also less than a second back in their three-car train adrift of the leaders.

Nico Hulkenberg took seventh for Haas ahead of Hamilton, who had the most dramatic race following the Turn 1 close for which the race stewards deciding no blame – most of his action involving Kevin Magnussen in the other Haas.

Hamilton was handed a post-race 20-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane during the early safety car period, which dropped him to P16 in the final results.

Hamilton struggled to get by Magnussen when DRS was activated, complaining about a lack of top speed in his Mercedes.

On lap eight, Magnussen cut the chicane ahead of Hamilton, while three laps later they collided through the long Turn 12 right-hander after the back straight, where Magnussen had been coming back from leaving the track.

On lap 14, Hamilton attacked Magnussen on the outside run to Turn 11 but Magnussen braked so late on the inside they both went off and Yuki Tsunoda took the opportunity to get ahead of the Mercedes.

Magnussen, who by this time had been handed a 10-second penalty for cutting the chicane, then let Tsunoda and Hamilton by before he was handed three more penalties for the other incidents involving Hamilton, who repassed Tsunoda’s RB on the final lap.

These included a five-second time addition for track limits abuse, which meant the Haas driver finished last in the standings, behind Alonso, who had dropped to the rear of the field following the Turn 1 contact and later fought Esteban Ocon’s Alpine before the Aston Martin made a late pitstop.

Ocon ended up P15 having served a 10-second stop-go penalty during the safety car for hitting Leclerc on the laps to the grid and breaking his own front wing.

Hamilton’s post-race penalty was given for speeding in the pitlane, which occurred on one of the occasions the whole field twice touring through the pits behind the safety car as the lap one crash debris and Norris’s McLaren were cleared away.

Norris faces an investigation now the sprint has concluded for walking across the track back to the pits following the early accident.

So congratulations to Max Verstappen in winning the Miami sprint. These extra points will do nicely for the championship. Good to see RB scoring double points with Daniel Ricciardo taking P4 with Yuki Tsunoda finishing in P8. Qualifying will be next.

Miami Grand Prix, sprint results:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 31:31.383
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari +3.371s
3 Sergio Perez Red Bull +5.095s
4 Daniel Ricciardo RB +14.971s
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari +15.222s
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren +15.750s
7 Nico Hulkenberg Haas +22.054s
8 Yuki Tsunoda RB +29.816s
9 Pierre Gasly Alpine +31.880s
10 Logan Sargeant Williams +34.355s
11 Zhou Guanyu Sauber +35.078s
12 George Russell Mercedes +35.755s
13 Alexander Albon Williams +36.086s
14 Valtteri Bottas Sauber +36.892s
15 Esteban Ocon Alpine +37.740s
16 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes +49.347s
17 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin +59.409s
18 Kevin Magnussen Haas +66.303s
Lance Stroll Aston Martin DNF
Lando Norris McLaren DNF

Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen will start the Miami Grand Prix sprint race on pole position edging out Charles Leclerc, who missed out on practice following a spin. While Lando Norris was unable to repeat his SQ1 and SQ2 performance.

Norris had led SQ1 and SQ2, with a time in the middle segment that would have been good enough to top SQ3, but on the switch to the soft compound for the final segment he fell out of contention – the McLaren driver particularly paying for losing 0.8 seconds compared to Verstappen in the opening sector.

Verstappen’s sprint race pole-clinching lap was not perfect as he had to wrestle his RB20 through the tight chicane at the end of the final sector, and yet posted a one minute, 27.641 seconds that was good enough to take the top spot.

Leclerc slotted into second just over 0.1 seconds adrift in second position – an impressive turnaround after he missed most of practice following his early spin and clutch issue.

Sergio Perez finished in third ahead of Daniel Ricciardo, who escaped hitting the Turn 16 exit wall in SQ2, to take a solid P4 in the RB.

This was something Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso had done in the opening segment, before he finished the session down in eighth behind Carlos Sainz, Oscar Piastri and Lance Stroll.

In the end, Norris was only able to beat Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, despite sealing the quickest times in the final two sectors in qualifying – his gap from the first sector enough to keep him from Verstappen.

In SQ2, which like SQ1 had the drivers circulating on the medium tyres throughout, Mercedes had both its cars taking an exit, with George Russell heading Lewis Hamilton in P11 and P12 – the latter striking the wall exiting Turn 16 onto the main straight on his final lap.

Behind came Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, Haas driver Kevin Magnussen and Yuki Tsunoda in the RB, who along with Verstappen and Norris only completed one flying lap in the middle segment.

In SQ1, Alex Albon’s last-gasp improvement was not enough to get him out of the elimination zone, before it was revealed his rise from last place to P16 was deleted due to cutting the chicane.

Albon duly had his time removed and will start last in the sprint, behind Pierre Gasly, Zhou Guanyu, Valtteri Bottas and Logan Sargeant, who therefore led the way in a qualifying session for the first time as Albon’s Williams teammate.

Bottas faces a post-session investigation for nearly colliding with Piastri at Turn 1 towards the end of SQ1, with the Sauber driver unaware of the McLaren’s fast approach to the right-hander when on a slow lap while Piastri was on a flying lap.

Hamilton will also have a post-session stewards hearing due to a possible Mercedes pits infringement during SQ2, while a series of drivers are under investigation for apparently not following the race director’s instruction regarding going too slowly on outlaps, which usually results in no sanctions being dished out.

So congratulations to Max Verstappen with this sprint pole. The defending champion even admitted he was surprise to get the quickest time despite a messy section in the chicane, with a bit of oversteer in the RB20. And yet it was enough to be in P1.

Miami Grand Prix, sprint qualifying:
1 Max Verstappen Red Bull 1:27.641
2 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:27.749
3 Sergio Perez Red Bull 1:27.876
4 Daniel Ricciardo RB 1:28.044
5 Carlos Sainz Ferrari 1:28.103
6 Oscar Piastri McLaren 1:28.161
7 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 1:28.375
8 Fernando Alonso Aston Martin 1:28.419
9 Lando Norris McLaren 1:28.472
10 Nico Hulkenberg Haas 1:28.476
11 George Russell Mercedes 1:28.343
12 Lewis Hamilton Mercedds 1:28.371
13 Esteban Ocon Alpine 1:28.379
14 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1:28.614
15 Yuki Tsunoda RB No time
16 Pierre Gasly Alpine 1:29.185
17 Zhou Guanyu Sauber 1:29.267
18 Valtteri Bottas Sauber 1:29.360
19 Logan Sargeant Williams 1:29.551
20 Alex Albon Williams 1:29.858