‘Leave him to it’ – Norris’ race engineer reflects on an emotional victory for McLaren

Will Joseph has been Lando Norris’ race engineer since the Brit joined the team in 2019, and was the first voice Norris heard over the radio when he crossed the line to take a famous victory in Miami.

The duo have worked closely together down the years, sharing highs as well as lows – and Joseph reflected on both post-race when the initial jubilation had died down.

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“We did it Will,” was Norris’ immediate reaction as he took the chequered flag, his voice almost choked with emotion.

“We finally did, well done,” came the reply, as Joseph conceded hilariously that he had read the post-race documents detailing where the winner was to park this week – implying he thought there might be some use to that information.

He spoke to Sky Sports F1 after the podium celebrations, and was quick to cast his mind back to the last time he thought he was coaching Norris to victory.

“It feels a long time coming, especially after Russia but no, it feels good,” Joseph said, referencing the Sochi 2021 race when Norris was leading and heading for victory until a late rain shower turned the race on its head.

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“[Sochi] haunts me every day, it haunts me in my sleep! I feel like we can put that behind us now, I mean what a fantastic race! We discussed after qualifying the decisions we had made and we weren’t so sure, I think I’ll go back to him and say maybe they were the right ones!”

It might have been an up and down weekend for Norris on paper, two disappointing qualifying performances and a DNF in the Sprint countered by his belief that his heavily upgraded McLaren had plenty of latent pace.

But he delivered in the Grand Prix, with one exchange midway through highlighting the belief both Norris and Joseph had in the MCL38. After being bottled up behind Sergio Perez, when the Mexican pitted Joseph told Norris he thought they shouldn’t worry about covering off the Red Bull and, instead, should concentrate on chasing down Carlos Sainz ahead.

Norris agreed with the aggressive approach – and in doing so, exhibited such a turn of pace that he brought himself right back into the reckoning for the victory, helped by the timing of the Safety Car.

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“We said this morning maybe our game is to go long and hope something happens, and when the pace is there you just do, there’s no reason to stop early and it came out at probably the best time,” Joseph conceded.

“I mean you have to be worried about Max [Verstappen], his pace had been strong the whole time but we were giving [Norris] the gaps in the first few laps and once we seemed comfortable, we had a six lap tyre advantage and, after a few laps we said you know leave him alone, leave him to it and he was strong, it was good.

“We still give [Norris] that advice but at the same time we know sometimes to shut up and let him do it.”

HIGHLIGHTS: Relive the action from a dramatic Miami Grand Prix as Norris takes debut F1 win ahead of Verstappen

As for what happened when the two met up off air, Joseph wouldn’t be drawn, saying it was between them. But having been through so much together since Norris joined the sport, it was a victory that clearly resonated throughout the whole team.

And with McLaren’s upgrades clearly going in the right direction, Joseph was quick to look ahead with the papaya team very much in the ascendancy: “Bring on Imola!”