‘I finally delivered for them’ – Norris pays tribute to McLaren after 'about time' debut F1 win in Miami

Lando Norris was left “over the moon” after achieving his first Formula 1 victory in the Miami Grand Prix, with the Briton paying tribute to his McLaren team for putting together the “perfect strategy”.

It had been a relatively quiet start to the race for Norris, who had lined up in P5 on the grid. However, the Briton was in the lead when a Safety Car was called on Lap 29 of 57 following a collision between Logan Sargeant and Kevin Magnussen, allowing him to make a well-timed pit stop and emerge back on track in P1.

READ MORE: Norris beats Verstappen for breakthrough maiden F1 victory in action-packed Miami Grand Prix

From there he maintained a gap to Max Verstappen in second and crossed the line to take his debut win in the sport, five years after arriving in F1 with McLaren.

Following some jubilant celebrations with his team when he jumped out of the car, Norris was then quizzed by former world champion Jenson Button on how it felt to be a Grand Prix winner.

“About time!” the 24-year-old smiled. “What a race. It’s been a long time coming, but finally I’ve managed to do it. I’m so happy for my whole team, I finally delivered for them. A long day, tough race, but finally on top so I’m over the moon.”

While the Safety Car timing benefitted Norris, the pace of his MCL38 was clear to see in the final stages as he stayed a decent distance ahead of Verstappen. Quizzed on whether he was feeling proud, Norris responded: “I am. The whole weekend’s been good, I’ve just had some little setbacks along the way.

AS IT HAPPENED: Follow all the action as Norris beats Verstappen to Miami Grand Prix victory

“I knew on Friday we had the pace, just a couple of mistakes here and there, but today we managed to put it together. We put the perfect strategy [together], it all paid off. Thanks to McLaren, everyone, and have to give a shout out to my mum and dad of course.”

Finally the newest Formula 1 winner was asked what message he had for the team, with whom he has spent his entire career in the sport to date as well as showing his faith in them by signing a contract to stay onboard until beyond 2025.

“What do I say to them? I’m just proud really,” Norris responded. “A lot of people 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.

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“I stuck with McLaren because I could believe in them and I did believe in them. Today proved exactly that.”