MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Lando Norris should take a lesson from his last big party and perhaps tone down the celebration for his first career victory as a Formula 1 driver.
His reaction after winning Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix showed the 24-year-old British driver probably doesn’t plan to miss a beat.
“Tonight’s going to be a great time,” Norris promised. “I’m just really proud. A lot of people, I guess, doubted me along the way. I’ve made a lot of mistakes over my last five years, my short career, but today we put it all together, so this is all for the team. I started with McLaren because I believe in them, and today proved exactly that.”
Norris won in his 110th career start after a mistake by Max Verstappen ended the three-time reigning F1 champion’s dominance at the circuit in the parking lot surrounding Hard Rock Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. Norris sprinted down pit lane to leap into the arms of his McLaren crew, which crowd-surfed Norris until he finally got to team boss Zak Brown, who wrapped the driver in a bear hug.
Norris arrived in Miami with a bandage covering stitches on his nose from a cut caused by broken glass while he was in Amsterdam after F1’s last outing. Norris was celebrating King’s Day with DJ Martin Garrix when he cut his nose.