Norris beat Verstappen by 7 seconds, having benefited from his only stop under the safety car – unlike his rivals – in a clash between Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant.
Verstappen had won the previous two Miami races but had already stopped when the safety car was required. He had earlier triggered his own virtual safety car by hitting the barrier and dislodging it at Turn 15, and admitted he struggled to get his car to turn.
This was only the second time Verstappen had been defeated in 2024, after he withdrew from the Australian Grand Prix won by Carlos Sainz due to a brake problem.
“I mean you win and you lose,” Verstappen told Sky. “I think we’re all used to that in racing, aren’t we?
“Today was a bit difficult. I think already on the media, I didn’t feel great. We were pulling away but not as much as we should have.
“And then when we got to the pit stop and I heard how many laps the McLaren team was doing, I thought, ‘Wow, that’s really fast.’ And once they got on the hard tires as well, they were faster, especially Lando, who was flying. It was tough.” Very important for us at that time.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB20, with suspension block
Photography: Zach Mauger / Motorsport pictures
“But if the bad day is second place, I accept it. I’m very happy for Lando. It’s been a long time coming. This won’t be his last, so he definitely deserves that day.”
When asked if McLaren’s updated car reflects its true pace, he replied: “I hope not!
“I mean they came with an upgrade. Yeah, sure, it seems to work. So, we have a little work to do on our end.”
“For sure, it was not the strongest weekend for us in terms of race pace, but we will analyze everything and try to come back.”
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who finished second behind Verstappen in third, praised Norris for a “fantastic job”.
“I’m really happy for Lando,” Leclerc said. “He deserves it. Many times, he would come very close to achieving it but for one reason or another he couldn’t, but today he did a great job.
“He spent the whole weekend on it, and already in Q2, I think there was a lap where I was like, ‘Okay, they’re pretty strong.’”
“We expected them to be strong, maybe not as strong as they showed today. But it’s totally worth it.”
