Lando Norris has finally won an F1 race, bringing his long wait for a finish on the top step of the podium to an end. In doing so, he has also beaten Nico Rosberg in an unofficial ‘race’, which the two agreed to compete in after Norris’ P2 finish in China.
Rosberg reminded Norris that it took him 111 attempts to win a race in F1. He said,
“So we have a race, the two of us because you’re at 108 and I won when I was at 111 my first race so we’re close.”
Norris agreed to this challenge, and said that his time “was coming“. Fast forward to the 2024 Miami GP and it did come. Norris won a Grand Prix on his 110th attempt, thus beating Rosberg by 1 race.
everyone say thank you nico rosberg for challenging lando norris to win a race in fewer races than he did (lando did it by 1 race) pic.twitter.com/7MIdIxhTOw
— nic (@nnicolef1) May 5, 2024
Norris beat another former world champion in a similar ‘race’ after his victory in Miami. 2009 title winner, Jenson Button finished P1 after 113 race starts, and Norris did the same three races prior.
However, the 24-year-old won’t care about the statistics. Now that he has won a race, what happened in the past and how long it took won’t matter because his slate is clean. Norris’ hopes now lie in the future, as he looks to make winning F1 races a regular habit.
Lando Norris’s brilliant drive to secure his first race win
Norris’ Miami GP weekend did not get off to a brilliant start, and after his DNF in the Sprint, things got worse. Starting P5 on the grid for the Grand Prix, Norris was not one of the favorites to take the chequered flag first.
View this post on Instagram
Despite losing one position at the start, the 24-year-old stayed cool and kept his head down. Once his medium compounds were fired up, he showed brilliant speed and tire management. After extending his stint on the mediums for 28 laps, a safety car forced by Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant’s crash became key to Norris’ success.
His team’s decision to pit him last ultimately put the ball in his court. Norris was the fastest driver on the track on fresher hard tires at the restart and finished 7.6 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen in P2. A perfect execution for a brilliant win, one he and his team will never forget.
