McLaren driver Lando Norris took advantage of a Safety Car period to secure his first Formula 1 victory at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, beating Max Verstappen. Norris successfully navigated the restart and pulled away from the three-time champion to claim the win, with Charles Leclerc of Ferrari finishing in third place. The majority of drivers opted for Medium tires, but Valtteri Bottas chose Softs, while Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Kevin Magnussen, and Daniel Ricciardo went for Hards.
Verstappen made a strong start and maintained his lead into Turn 1, while Leclerc struggled, allowing Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz to challenge him. However, Perez’s attempt to overtake the Ferraris caused Sainz to go wide, allowing Leclerc to regain second place. Meanwhile, Oscar Piastri moved up to third. George Russell dropped down the field, falling to 10th, while Alonso gained two positions to reach 13th.
The Alpine drivers, Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso, battled through the slow-speed section of the track, with Ocon emerging as the leading Alpine driver. Hamilton’s decision to go with the Hard compound tires allowed Nico Hulkenberg to pass him on the outside at Turn 1. Without the aid of DRS, Leclerc was vulnerable to Verstappen, and Piastri took advantage to move into second place at Turn 17 on lap four. Sainz also had his sights set on overtaking his teammate but was unable to find a way past Leclerc and Piastri.
Hamilton had already been involved in incidents during the Sprint race, and he almost collided with Hulkenberg when the latter pushed him to the inside at Turn 11. Although Hamilton initially completed the overtake, he locked up under braking at Turn 17, allowing Hulkenberg to regain seventh place.
In the thrilling race, Lewis Hamilton successfully overtook Nico Hulkenberg on Lap 10 with a skillful maneuver at Turn 11. George Russell, despite a poor start, managed to lead the pack and also made a pass at Turn 11 on Lap 12. Lance Stroll, Logan Sargeant, and Valtteri Bottas were the first drivers to make their pit stops at the end of the last lap. Hulkenberg faced pressure from Yuki Tsunoda, but Haas reacted by bringing him in for his first pit stop. Sergio Perez fell behind in the battle for second place, while Lando Norris in his McLaren MCL38 aimed to overtake the Red Bull and secure fifth place. Charles Leclerc was stuck behind Piastri due to track position, with Carlos Sainz in fourth place. Leclerc set the fastest lap of the race, shortly after Max Verstappen extended his lead. Norris attempted to make a move on Perez at Turn 17 on Lap 17, but the Mexican defended his position and then pitted. Perez re-entered the race in heavy traffic, dropping down to 10th place. McLaren advised Norris to chase after Sainz instead of pitting to cover Perez, a decision Norris agreed with. Ferrari decided to pit Leclerc, completing an impressive 1.9-second pit stop. Leclerc emerged from the pits between the Mercedes cars and used his fresher tires to easily overtake Hamilton and regain fifth place. Verstappen had a moment at the slow chicane, hitting a cone on the run-off area. This incident caused the Virtual Safety Car to be deployed on Lap 23. However, the interruption was short-lived, and the race resumed without any major advantage for the drivers in the lead pack to pit. Red Bull chose to bring Verstappen in for a pit stop, and he returned to the track in fourth place, more than three seconds ahead of Leclerc, who was instructed to increase his pace. Piastri and Sainz both pitted to switch from Medium to Hard tires at the halfway point of the race. Leclerc’s earlier pit stop gave him the advantage over the McLaren, and Norris continued to lead the race while setting competitive lap times. An incident involving Magnussen and Sargeant at Turn 3 resulted in Sargeant being stranded, prompting a Safety Car period that allowed Norris to pit and maintain his first-place position.
Magnussen had been attempting to overtake Sargeant, who had defended against an attack in Turns 1 and 2 before the Haas driver collided with his competitor’s rear at the next corner.
The Danish driver, who received penalties in the Sprint race and was now running in last place, was given a 10-second penalty to be added to his final result.
Norris led the rest of the field as they resumed racing on Lap 33, and the McLaren driver moved to the inside at Turn 1 to prevent Verstappen from launching an attack.
Verstappen had been complaining about the Hard tires before the race was paused, and he was unable to keep up with Norris, who had fresher tires, on the restart.
Sainz tried to make a move around Piastri on the outside at Turn 11, but the Australian driver held his position on the inside and forced the Ferrari driver wide, causing frustration.
The battle between Sainz and Piastri continued, and the Ferrari driver successfully completed the overtake at Turn 17 on Lap 39, despite some minor contact between them.
Piastri then used the DRS to pass McLaren driver on the outside down the start-finish straight, but he braked too late and lost fourth place.
Perez and Hamilton then overtook Piastri at Turn 11 using DRS, while Piastri was informed that he had a puncture and had to pit, dropping him to 19th and last place.
Ocon and Alonso fought over ninth place for several turns, but the Frenchman eventually lost the position as the two-time champion made the move at Turn 11 on Lap 48.
Alex Albon struggled in the closing stages and lost a position to Lance Stroll at Turn 1. He then locked up into Turn 11 and went off the track.
Norris extended his lead to 7.6 seconds and crossed the finish line as a race winner in Formula 1 for the first time, with Verstappen settling for second place.
Leclerc secured Ferrari’s sixth podium finish of the season, with his teammate Sainz finishing in fourth place. Perez managed to hold off Hamilton to complete the top five.
Tsunoda continued his impressive start to the season with a seventh-place finish, capping off a fantastic weekend for Red Bull Racing, while George Russell finished eighth for Mercedes.
Alonso bounced back from earlier disappointment in the weekend to salvage ninth place for Aston Martin, and Ocon finally scored points for Alpine this season.