In the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League, Lando Norris had a stroke of good fortune with the timing of the safety car during the Miami Grand Prix. However, his speed in the upgraded McLaren MCL38 was exceptional compared to the Red Bull and Ferrari teams. The McLaren was simply faster on race day, despite qualifying a few tenths slower. It performed better on the medium and hard tires used in the race rather than the soft tires. Norris capitalized on external factors and seized every opportunity to secure his first grand prix victory. This was a flawlessly executed and controlled drive.
Sergio Perez’s chaotic start caused the Ferraris to scatter, resulting in Carlos Sainz losing the second place he had just gained from his teammate Charles Leclerc. The incident also separated the McLarens. Norris, positioned on the outside, lost out in avoiding the chaos, while Oscar Piastri on the inside took advantage of the situation. He made contact with Sainz, securing third place and later overtaking Leclerc with the assistance of DRS.
For the remainder of the stint, Norris trailed Verstappen by approximately three seconds, closely followed by the Ferraris. However, the Ferraris were unable to attempt a pass. If Sainz had been allowed to pass Leclerc, the situation may have been different as he believed he had more pace. Despite this, there was no serious discussion on the Ferrari pitwall.
Norris was forced to back off to avoid Perez rejoining the track, resulting in him being stuck behind Perez for several laps. It seemed unlikely that Norris would achieve victory. Although the upgraded McLaren had improved aerodynamics compared to the original, it lacked the straight-line speed required for overtaking. Even with DRS, the McLaren’s speed at the end of the straight was comparable to the Red Bull without DRS. However, Norris could feel the same magic the car had on Friday during practice when it was equipped with medium tires.
The new car’s performance had fluctuated throughout the weekend. It was incredibly fast on Friday, slightly slower on Saturday, but now it felt just as it did on Friday. This was not exclusive to Norris; all drivers experienced significant fluctuations due to the unpredictable nature of the tires. Verstappen and Leclerc were never entirely satisfied with the balance of their cars.
To preserve his tires, Norris dropped back by a couple of seconds. However, as the pitstop window opened for what was expected to be a one-stop race, Norris closed the gap and applied pressure on Perez through the undercut strategy. Perez was unable to match Norris’s pace.
At the front of the field, Verstappen maintained a three-second lead over Piastri. It was not a typical Verstappen-Red Bull dominant race. Verstappen expressed discomfort with the car, struggling with rear grip at low speeds and understeer at high speeds.
Red Bull brought Perez in for a pitstop at the end of lap 17, revealing Norris’s incredible pace. Norris began lapping 1.0-1.5 seconds faster than when he was behind the Red Bull, closing in on Sainz.
Leclerc, increasingly dissatisfied with his aging tires, was called in for a pitstop on lap 19 to pressure Piastri through the undercut strategy. Piastri stayed out. However, with Leclerc no longer hindering him, Sainz improved his pace by over half a second. Nevertheless, Norris continued to advance at a rate approximately 0.5 seconds faster than Sainz.
Norris’s engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, reported his lap times to Verstappen. The world champion acknowledged that he couldn’t have achieved Norris’s times on used medium tires. Verstappen recognized Norris’s insane pace and admitted that his own performance was not up to par.
Leclerc, on fresh hard tires, lapped faster than Verstappen and posed a potential threat through the undercut strategy. Verstappen persevered but ran wide at Turn 15, dislodging a bollard that briefly became lodged in his car before falling out of the rear. Verstappen claimed not to feel any difference, although floor damage was later discovered.
The bollard presented an obvious hazard on the track. A virtual safety car was deployed, but it was rescinded once Verstappen had passed the pit entry road. Verstappen was forced to pit while the pack was back at full racing speed. He rejoined the race still ahead of Leclerc.
Sainz, feeling the pressure from Norris, made a pitstop on lap 27. He followed Piastri into the pitlane, and they maintained their positions after the stops. However, Leclerc had undercut Piastri. Norris now led the race. Shortly after, Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant collided, resulting in the Williams car being stuck in the fence and necessitating its retrieval. This was disastrous for Piastri and Sainz, as it allowed Norris to make a pitstop with a 10-second advantage over the pack.
This situation could have been disastrous for Norris as well. If the safety car had picked him up as the leader, he would have been forced to stay out on old tires due to the compression of the field. Stopping would have resulted in a significant loss of positions. However, the safety car mistakenly picked up Verstappen instead of Norris. This error allowed Norris to enter the pits and return to the track still in the lead. If the safety car error had not been corrected, Norris could have potentially gained a lap on the entire field.
Instead, the cars lined up behind the safety car in the order of Norris, Verstappen, Leclerc, Piastri, Sainz, and Perez. Verstappen closely pursued Norris as the race restarted, requiring Norris to defend his position into Turn 1. However, Norris’s superior speed allowed him to gain over a second on Verstappen by the end of the lap. As a result, Norris was immune to the restoration of DRS. He continued to extend his lead over Verstappen by approximately 0.3 seconds per lap. The McLaren’s advantage on the hard tires was even greater than on the medium tires.
Meanwhile, Piastri and Sainz engaged in a wheel-to-wheel battle, occasionally making contact. Sainz eventually overtook Piastri at Turn 17 at the end of the long straight. However, the move was late, and Sainz’s rear wheel made contact with Piastri’s front wing endplate, requiring a pitstop for a new nose. Sainz continued on and finished fourth, but he was later penalized five seconds for the incident.
Perez was unable to challenge the Ferraris, despite making a second pitstop during the safety car period to switch to fresh medium tires. Instead, he had to defend against Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes, who had started on hard tires and switched to the faster medium tires towards the end of the race. Behind them, George Russell battled unsuccessfully with Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull for seventh place. Fernando Alonso made a late pass on his old friend Esteban Ocon in the Alpine to secure ninth place.
As Norris crossed the finish line, he felt as though he was cruising, with a comfortable 7.6-second lead over Verstappen. While there is no doubt that Norris was the fastest driver on the track, the question remains whether he could have won from his compromised position without the safety car intervention. Norris acknowledged that it would have been challenging, requiring him to overtake two Ferraris and Piastri before reaching Verstappen.
There was an element of luck involved, but Norris’s performance was undeniably devastating. He emerged as the grand prix winner, solidifying his status as a formidable driver.