McLaren's rising star, Lando Norris, secured his maiden Formula One victory in a thrilling upset over reigning world champion Max Verstappen at the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.
In a remarkable turn of events that injected new excitement into a season potentially dominated by a single narrative, Norris triumphed over Verstappen by a commanding margin of over seven seconds. Ferrari's Charles Leclerc secured third place.
Verstappen, starting from pole position, had claimed victory in four of the season's first five races and maintained his lead in the world championship standings.
Initially, it seemed to be another routine race for Verstappen, who had won the two preceding Miami races, as he led until lap 24 when he made a pit stop and Norris's McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, briefly took the lead.
Piastri himself went into the pits four laps later, allowing Norris to grab the lead, and the British driver never looked back.
Crucially, Norris was able to pit during a safety car on lap 30, earning him a valuable time advantage which he never relinquished.
The safety car was deployed after Kevin Magnussen clipped Logan Sargeant, sending the American Williams driver into the wall, bringing out a yellow flag.
Norris, who had 15 podiums before his first win, took full advantage of the safety car, and with Verstappen struggling to catch up, he secured his maiden victory.
It was the first time Verstappen has been beaten on track when he finished the race, since Ferrari's Carlos Sainz won in Singapore in September last year.
Norris was hoisted in the air by the McLaren mechanics as his long wait for a victory in the sport came to an end.
"About time huh?" said Norris, "I knew on Friday that we had the pace ... today we managed to put it together. We had the perfect strategy, it all paid off," he added.
"I guess a lot of people doubted me along the way. I've made a lot of mistakes over the last five years, my short career, but today we pulled it all together, so this is all for the team.
"I stuck with McLaren because I could believe in them and I did believe in them and today proved exactly that," he added.
The nearest Norris had come previously to winning a Grand Prix was in Sochi, Russia in 2021 when he led in the latter stages before failing to make a tire change early in rain, costing him dearly.
Verstappen, who had complained about a lack of grip in qualification and during Sunday's race, said his Red Bull had been unable to keep up with Norris once the McLaren driver switched to hard tires.
"They just had more pace, Lando was flying. It was incredibly difficult for us, but on the bad days P2, I'll take it right?
"I'm very happy for Lando, its been a long time coming and it's not going to be his last one. He definitely deserves it," said the Dutchman.
Leclerc echoed those sentiments.
"Very often he ran very close it but for one reason or another he didn't make it. But today he did an incredible job and the whole weekend he has been on it," said the Ferrari driver.
Sainz finished fourth with Verstappen's Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez in fifth place but the pair swapped places after stewards imposed a post-race penalty of five seconds on the Spaniard for his collision with Piastri.
Mercedes pair Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finished sixth and eighth with RB's Japanese driver Yuki Tsunoda ending seventh.
As in the first two years of the Miami Grand Prix, held around Hard Rock Stadium, the home of the NFL's Miami Dolphins, the race attracted plenty of celebrities.
Former France international footballer and coach Zinedine Zidane, singer Ed Sheeran, Super Bowl-winning quarterback Patrick Mahomes, and former U.S. President Donald Trump were among those spotted at the race. Trump visited the McLaren garage before the race.
