“Max wins every race,” they said. “This season will be so boring because Max always wins,” they said. Well, the jokes on you because the 2024 season of Formula 1 has been nothing but crazy so far. Yes, Max Verstappen at Red Bull Racing has won four out of six races, but the two he didn’t win? Insane. In Australia, he had to retire because a fire started in his car. But Sunday, May 5th in Miami wasn’t the day for the Dutchman. It was the luck and will of the 24-year-old Brit, Lando Norris, who took his first-ever F1 win after 5 years, a total of 110 races, and 16 podiums. This is why every worker, driver, team member, and fan in F1 needed this win, but more importantly, why Lando and the team at McLaren deserved it more than anything.
This season in Formula 1 is setting out to be a shake-up compared to last year. 21 of the 22 races in the 2023 season were won by Red Bull Racing. Two were won by Sergio Perez and the other nineteen by Max Verstappen. This season, however, there have already been three different drivers and team winners in the first six races. This hasn’t happened since 2018 with three different teams and drivers each winning two of the races. This season, Max won in the first two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, as well as the fourth and fifth in Japan and China. The third race of the season went to Carlos Sainz at Ferrari in Australia. Then the most recent race went to Lando at McLaren in Miami. The shaking up of race winners may turn out to be good for the confidence of teams and drivers, and more battles for first place.
Lando Norris has always been at McLaren, starting his F1 career with them in 2019. It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for little Lando, having never won a race at this level. McLaren hasn’t had it easy either. They’ve had just as many wins as Lando in the past few years except for Daniel Ricciardo’s 2021 win in Monza. That had been the most recent win for the team since 2012. Lando has come super close to winning, particularly in the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi, 2021. He was having a winning race, until the rain hit and he spun out, putting him down to P7. It has been a frustrating few years for him and McLaren, but this weekend made it all worth the wait, agony, and constant work.
Lando didn’t win completely by luck, but it was definitely on his side that day. At the beginning of the race, Lando held fifth focusing on moving up places. While in the lead, Max Verstappen hit a cone into a turn, sending it into the road. There was a brief virtual Safety Car, meaning that the drivers were instructed to slow down until the cone could be cleared from the track. A few laps after the restart, Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargen collided, bringing out a real Safety Car, so all the cars had to get behind it and bunch up until the track was cleared of debris. At this point, Lando was in pole position, or first place, because all the cars in front of him had to get fresh tires. There was a decent gap between him and the car behind, so his team had him pit at the beginning of the Safety Car. During the restart, Lando got out of the DRS range from Max very quickly. DRS is the Drag Reduction System, which allows the back flap of the cars to come down, giving cars more speed to overtake. There are specific zones on each track DRS is allowed, and you have to be within one second of the car you wish to overtake. Lando was able to increase his gap from Max for the rest of the race. Max was having his struggles, possibly small damage from the cone incident. So yes, Lando had some luck, but the team’s strategies for him made the race even better. It’s very difficult to win on pure skill, so luck usually comes in at some point. Whether it be the Safety Car or Max struggling behind, Lando had a win, and that is what counts.
In December, my family decided to get tickets to the Spanish Grand Prix in June. I had never been super interested, but after a few watches and learning more about the sport and the most recent seasons, I have decided that I like it. But this is my first real season of Formula 1. I was worried that everyone would be right about the whole Max/Red Bull dominance, considering the past two years were almost complete dominance. But ever since even Carlos won in Australia, I’ve found that nothing is set in stone during an F1 race. Typically you wouldn’t bother to watch a race even though it’s the same driver every weekend. But it hasn’t been the same driver! Anything can happen in this sport, it is insanely unpredictable. Nobody expected Lando to win this weekend, and yet he did. Formula 1 as an industry needed this win because it proved to people that watching the races can be worth it, and it doesn’t always have to be Max who wins. Sometimes, it can be the boy who waited and waited despite the continuous heartbreakers and second places.
Yes, Max Verstappen is very likely to win many more races this season. It’s inevitable with his talent and the car that he has. But I’m not going to let that take away from my F1 experience. You never know who could have a great day, who could have some luck, or who is going to get into trouble and have an early end to their race. Those midfield battles, little victories(and the huge ones), and driver/team relationships on and off the track are what make me love Formula 1. I think that Lando Norris and McLaren have brought new hope for this season, even if it’s just a glimpse. Congrats to team McLaren and Lando Norris on your win in Miami. This season has been more interesting and worth watching because of this win.
