Just 114 of 776 Formula 1 drivers have won a Grand Prix, a very exclusive club that only the greatest names in motorsport can say they are a part of.
Lando Norris joined that group at the Miami Grand Prix with a superb drive, becoming the 21st British driver to win, following in the footsteps of world champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, among others.
F1’s latest winner was destined for stardom. He won three titles in 2016 and the FIA F3 European Championship a year later.
In preparation for his F1 debut, Norris competed in the Rolex 24 at Daytona for United Autosports in 2018.
He competed alongside Fernando Alonso and left the event with a faster race lap time than his teammate. This small but morale-boosting achievement by Norris would’ve surely given him a lift of confidence as he sat on the cusp of the F1 grid.
The British driver was chosen to replace two-time world champion Alonso at McLaren for the 2019 season, a huge show of trust in the then-teenager at a time of turmoil for the British team.
Since his arrival at motorsport’s highest level, Norris has been one of the more popular drivers on the grid, an ice-cool personality outside the car juxtaposed with a hard racer on the circuit.
Having stood on the top step of the podium in F1 for the first time, F1’s latest winner is fully focused on delivering the world title in 2025 and hunting down reigning champion Red Bull.
The 24-year-old is adamant McLaren can challenge for the Constructors’ title next year, via Sky Sports.
“100 percent,” Norris said. “I am saying that still with my feet on the ground. I want to believe that we have two great drivers. We have an amazing team behind us and we are closer than ever. As much as I said at the beginning of this year that we can win races, I should have the confidence to say next year we can go for the next step.”
McLaren has been floundering since the hybrid era was introduced in 2014. It hasn’t won multiple races in a season since 2012, Hamilton’s final year with the team.
An embarrassing stint with Honda as an engine supplier from 2015-2017 was followed by years of rebuilding the team, with fewer brash statements and more quiet determination to return to the front.
Daniel Ricciardo’s victory in Monza in 2021 gave the British team something to smile about, although the win could be seen as a hit and run as neither of that year’s title contenders, Hamilton or Verstappen, saw the checkered flag.
The upcoming races in 2024 in Italy and Monaco are both venues that Norris has delivered podiums. More silverware could be very close if McLaren and its talisman keep up their blistering form.