This past weekend in Miami was filled with celebrations as McLaren driver Lando Norris won his first-ever Grand Prix. Max Verstappen was beaten on track for the first time in nearly two years, taking home second place and finishing seven seconds behind Norris. Charles Leclerc in the semi-blue machine found his way to the bottom step of the podium.
Lando Norris
Lando Norris graced the top step for the first time ever. Earlier in the weekend, Norris did a lie detector test on if he thought he could win a race with McLaren. He said yes, and he wasn’t lying. The team brought upgrades into the race, with Lando pretty much having a whole new car. The upgrades worked out pretty well, as they had more pace than the Red Bull’s. There was a safety car incident that helped Norris as he got a free pit stop. He capitalized and finished seven seconds ahead of Verstappen.
Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant’s crash
Kevin Magnussen has been driving like a madman all year long, but this weekend at Miami was his craziest yet. During the spring race, he had over 20 seconds worth of penalties. He was also given three penalty points for repeat offenses while fighting Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton. Well, on Sunday, he was at the back of the grid and was fighting Williams driver Logan Sargeant. They were coming out of turn one when Magnussen looked to have tried to squeeze a gap. Sargeant just plain didn’t see him and Kevin’s front left wheel hit Sargeant and sent both of them off. Sargeant ended up getting the worst of it, going back-end first into the barrier. Magnussen received two more penalty points. Now, if he receives two more points from now until March 9th, 2025, he’ll be given a race ban.
Carlos Sainz
Oscar Piastri and the Ferraris were fighting the whole first half of the race. On Lap 35, Piastri and Sainz had an incident. Sainz tried to perform an overtake on Piastri for fourth place, but Oscar wouldn’t budge. Carlos put his car right into Oscar’s and cost Oscar the race as he had to pit and finish the race in 13th. Sainz actually said that Piastri had to “give the position back,” but the stewards disagreed as they gave him a five-second time penalty after the race was over. Red Bull driver Sergio Perez jumped up to fourth place because of it, and Sainz dropped one and went down to fifth.
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Featured Image: Jim Watson/Getty Images
