Lando Norris secured his first F1 win in Miami GP after safety car helped his cause, ahead of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc.
It was a clean start from pole for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in F1 Miami GP to lead the race but Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc had a slow one which allowed Red Bull’s Sergio Perez to get ahead. But the Mexican came in hot at Turn 1 and nearly took out couple of cars.
He locked-up and dropped behind Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz who had to take an evasive action. This allowed McLaren’s Oscar Piastri to take the outside line and jump to third ahead of Sainz and Perez, with McLaren’s Lando Norris dropping to sixth.
Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg made a brave move to get past Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton for seventh, with Visa Cash App RB’s Yuki Tsunoda in ninth ahead of Mercedes’ George Russell in the Top 10. There was quite the fight between the two Alpine drivers.
Both Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were wheel-to-wheel for most of the lap where Ocon stayed in front but not for long as Gasly managed to not only get him but also Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso on the inside in close proximity.
While Verstappen led the way, Leclerc came under pressure from Piastri who eventually made the pass to take second, where Sainz started to hustle his teammate. Perez and Norris stayed where they were, but the fight for intensified between three drivers.
Hamilton got through Hulkenberg initially but locked-up to allow the German back through. However, Hamilton pressed on to retake seventh, with the Haas driver then coming under pressure from Russell who had cleared Tsunoda few laps earlier for ninth.
It took him couple of laps but Russell finally managed to take eighth from Hulkenberg, with drivers outside the Top 10 starting to stop just around Lap 10-11. The first from the front to pit was Perez on Lap 18, with Leclerc following up on Lap 19.
It released Sainz and Norris in the cleaner air as Perez made a quick work of Ocon, while Leclerc did the same against Hamilton. There was a brief scare for Verstappen when he ran over the kerb at Turn 15 and hit the cone which was left off on the track.
It slid onto the racing line which forced the stewards to pull up the Virtual Safety Car. But none at the front could take advantage of it, where only handful from outside the Top 10 could pit. Verstappen still pitted under green flag conditions, allowing Piastri to lead.
As things started to settle, there was a safety car period due to collision between Williams’ Logan Sargeant and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, where the Dane tried to stay with the American on the inside but the two made contact, leading to a DNF for Sargeant.
Magnussen managed to continue but was at the back of the field with the incident under investigation, as Norris came around to pit and maintain the lead behind the safety car. It didn’t pick the Brit and had to catch him on track to pass him.
Verstappen was second in the order from Leclerc, who managed to retake track position from Piastri with Sainz in fifth ahead of Perez, Tsunoda, Hamilton, Russell and Ocon in the Top 10, with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso just outside in 11th.
The stewards, meanwhile, handed a 10s time penalty to Magnussen for causing a collision, with the Dane earning another penalty in the weekend. It was a bit of slow re-start from Norris but he managed to stretch out on his new tyres to maintain F1 Maimi GP lead.
Verstappen was outside DRS zone but Leclerc was in his in third, as Piastri came under pressure from Sainz. The Spaniard was seemingly pushed off when they brushed but the Australian retained the track position despite a move from the Ferrari.
The stewards agreed with McLaren’s side and noted about no further action. Perez remained sixth as Hamilton passed Tsunoda for seventh, with Russell in ninth from Ocon in the Top 10, resisting Alonso who had the other Alpine of Gasly behind him.
After Sainz was alerted of no further action, he took it on and made the move on the inside at Turn 17. When he stopped in the corner, there was slight touch which damaged Piastri’s front wing. He tried to come back but went wide at Turn 1 then.
It allowed Perez and Hamilton to pass him on the lap, but Piastri was forced to stop to change the front wing and drop outside the points. Sainz was fourth but reported of unusual feeling, with Perez being chased by Hamilton for fifth.
Tsunoda was up to seventh from Russell, with Ocon in ninth ahead of Alonso in the Top 10. The Spaniard and the Frenchman hurried each other in the fight for ninth, where Alonso after several tries finally got through him to be take ninth.
At the front, Norris started to stretch out against Verstappen in his pursuit of his first F1 win. The Dutchman did not feel good on the hard tyres as his pace dropped where the Brit created a good enough gap in the lead of the F1 grand prix.
Eventually, it was a gap of 7.612s gap to win his maiden F1 race in Miami GP, with Verstappen having to settle for second from Leclerc in a happy podium. Sainz was fourth but under investigation, as Perez retained fifth from a close Hamilton.
Tsunoda was a good seventh to hold off Russell, with Alonso in ninth ahead of Ocon who scored his and Alpine’s first point of F1 2024 ahead of Hulkenberg in 11th. Gasly ended up 12th in a good show, with Piastri recovering to 13th in the end.
Stake F1 Team’s Zhou Guanyu was 14th from Visa Cash App RB’s Daniel Ricciardo from the other Stake of Valtteri Bottas, as Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll ended up 17th after a penalty. Magnussen was 18th from Williams’ Alexander Albon, who had a late stop due to lock-up.
Results: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1787234895154049526
UPDATE: Magnussen gets two penalty points for his collision with Sargeant which now takes his tally to 10 out of 12 for a year. Here: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Miami%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Infringement%20-%20Car%2020%20-%20Causing%20a%20collision.pdf
In another incident, the Dane was given a drive-through converted to 20s time penalty added to his race time. The team accepted the error of not changing tyres when Magnussen entered the pits under the Safety Car period. Here: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Miami%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Infringement%20-%20Car%2020%20-%20Entering%20pit%20lane%20under%20Safety%20Car%20conditions.pdf
The stewards also handed a 10s time penalty for leaving the track and gaining advantage while passing Albon. It dropped him in the order. Here: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Miami%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Infringement%20-%20Car%2018%20-%20Leaving%20the%20track%20and%20gaining%20a%20lasting%20advantage.pdf
Sainz, meanwhile, was handed a 5s time penalty for his collision with Piastri. The stewards reckons the Spaniard braked late and missed the apex which caused a collision. As a result, he has dropped behind Perez in the standings to fifth, but is safe from Hamilton. He has been given one penalty point as well. Here: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Miami%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Infringement%20-%20Car%2055%20-%20Causing%20a%20Collision.pdf
Final results: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Miami%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Final%20Race%20Classification.pdf
Here’s what happened in F1 Miami GP sprint race
Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact
