Lando Norris

When Lando Norris crossed the finish line at the Miami International Autodrome on 5 May 2024, he ended a wait that had stretched across 110 Formula 1 race starts and multiple occasions when the result that finally came had seemed within reach before circumstances intervened. The first win was not taken from him by drama or misfortune — he built it from the front, overtook Verstappen in a move of genuine quality, and managed the distance with the composure of a driver who had been preparing for this moment through every lap of those 110 races.

The overtake on Verstappen — at a circuit where passing is genuinely possible but requires calculation and commitment — was a statement. Norris went around the outside of the Red Bull at Turn 1 with a precision of line and a confidence of application that left no room for misinterpretation: this was a driver who knew he was fast enough to win and was demonstrating it in real time. Verstappen, one of the sport's most aggressive defenders, had no counter-move available.

The aftermath was pure emotion. Radio transmissions, team celebrations, the podium, the trophy — all of it coloured by the length of the wait and the manner of the achievement. McLaren's resurgence in 2024 was not simply a car story; it was the product of years of technical development and personnel investment that had been building quietly through the years of underperformance. Norris was the driver who got to receive the result of all of it on his first attempt at the top step.