Here is our full text transcript from the sixth round of the 2024 Formula 1 championship, the Miami Grand Prix:
After a breathless first two days on Miami’s inaugural Sprint weekend, it’s time for the main event – the 57-lap Grand Prix. And, if yesterday’s 19-lap Sprint race is anything to go by, we should get plenty of wheel-to-wheel action on a circuit that drivers have struggled to find consistency on all weekend.
What could that mean for the battle for victory at the front. Max Verstappen has topped every session so far this weekend and starts on pole position for the seventh GP running.
But he didn’t absolutely race away from Charles Leclerc in the Sprint and the Monegasque, who starts second to the world champion again this evening, reckons he can challenge Verstappen if he manages to stay with, or indeed overtake, the Red Bull at the start. Ferrari also have Carlos Sainz between Verstappen and Sergio Perez in fourth.
Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur speaks to Martin Brundle before the start of the race: “Yesterday I think we were still slower than them [Red Bull] by a couple tenths. Let’s see today.The start is important as yesterday it was very difficult to follow.”
It should be a one-stop race, so the tyres left for each driver doesn’t matter too much today. However, both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton have no new mediums available. Just like last year’s Miami GP, it’s a simple medium-hard or hard-medium strategy, unless we get a Safety Car or Virtual Safety Car in the second half of the race.
Lap 1/57: Max Verstappen makes a great start to pull clear, but is almost taken out by his team-mate Sergio Perez who suffers a huge lock-up at the first corner. After getting a poor start, Charles Leclerc was aided by Perez’s error and holds onto second, while Oscar Piastri has jumped from sixth to third! The two Alpines of Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly somehow go side by side through the tight middle sector, just avoiding contact. Gasly stays ahead in 14th place.
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Lap 2/57: Lewis Hamilton is overtaken by Nico Hulkenberg at the start of the second lap, which drops the Mercedes driver back down to eighth.
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Lap 3/57: Charles Leclerc said it would be important to stay within DRS range of Max Verstappen, but the Dutchman is already 1.5s clear. The stewards have decided no further investigation is required into Sergio Perez’s first-corner error. That may well have been different had he made contact with another car. A lucky escape for the Red Bull driver.
Lap 5/57: And there goes Oscar Piastri into Turn 16! It’s an easy move down the inside of Charles Leclerc. Leclerc tries to fight back into Turn One, but can’t get back past. Piastri is only two seconds behind Max Verstappen too.
Lap 6/57: There’s more trouble for Charles Leclerc with his team-mate Carlos Sainz now applying heavy pressure. The gap is well under a second, and let’s not forget about the fruity battles we saw between the pair in China. Fred Vasseur does not appear to be sitting very comfortably on the pit wall right now.
Lap 8/57: Lewis Hamilton was momentarily up to P7 after passing Nico Hulkenberg, but then a huge lock up from the Mercedes driver at Turn 17 allows the Haas straight back through. That will be very frustrating for Hamilton.
Lap 10/57: Lewis Hamilton dives down the inside of Nico Hulkenberg at Turn 11 and pulls off a great move to take seventh place. George Russell tries to follow through at Turn 16 but tucks back in behind the Haas driver.
Piastri keeping in touch with Verstappen
Lap 11/57: Max Verstappen’s lead is up to three seconds but he isn’t exactly charging away from Oscar Piastri. The McLaren has Charles Leclerc just under a second behind him, with the other Ferrari of Carlos Sainz right there as well. Ferrari will be disappointed to have messed up their strong 2-3 starting position on the grid.
Lap 13/57: Lando Norris is on the back of Sergio Perez in the battle for fifth. It looked like Perez went a little bit wide at Turn 11 as Norris begins to pick up his pace.
Lap 14/57: Charles Leclerc has just been told over team radio to do the opposite to what Oscar Piastri does, in terms of coming into the pits. Turns out it was a bluff, with both cars staying out.
Lap 16/57: Oscar Piastri is still keeping Charles Leclerc behind and is asked by McLaren if he can overtake the Mercedes, as that’s the cars he would come out behind if he pits right now. Piastri says overtaking is difficult, so that’s why the leaders are staying out.
Lap 18/57: Sergio Perez comes in at the end of lap 17, releasing Lando Norris into clear air. It will be interesting to see how much pace his fully upgraded McLaren has. Perez comes out in P10, just in front of Fernando Alonso.
Lap 20/57: Next of the front-runners to stop is Charles Leclerc, who gives up on his chase of Oscar Piastri. The Ferrari, after a stunning 1.9s pit stop, comes out in P7 ahead of George Russell. Will McLaren react immediately?
Lap 21/57: McLaren are keeping Oscar Piastri out there. They will now look to go long in order to have fresher hard tyres than Charles Leclerc and come back at him later in the race. It’s Verstappen leading by three seconds from Piastri, with Carlos Sainz another two seconds back and Norris a further four seconds adrift.
Lap 21/57: Charles Leclerc quickly gets past Lewis Hamilton. That was crucial in his battle with the McLarens.
Lap 23/57: We have a Virtual Safety Car! Crucially it was only needed for the very short amount of time it took for a marshal to jump on track and remove the bollard. That meant none of the leaders, who weren’t at the right part of the track to pit, were able to benefit from it. Fernando Alonso was perfectly placed to stop.
Lap 24/57: The Virtual Safety Car ends very quickly but Max Verstappen still pits under green flag conditions. Red Bull adjust his front wing slightly, but there appears to be no damage done. Verstappen is on the hards and comes out three seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc.
Lap 25/57: Lando Norris has just done the fastest lap of the race as he continues to close on Carlos Sainz in what is currently the battle for second. Could McLaren be quick enough to push Max Verstappen for the win this evening?
Lap 27/57: The leader Oscar Piastri comes in, as does Carlos Sainz from second. They come out in fourth and fifth, respectively. Lando Norris is now in the lead. If he can continue his searing pace of the last few laps, he might be able to get the jump on Sainz.
Magnussen and Sargeant crash – Safety Car! Lap 29/57: Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant have had an incident in the second sector. There’s a Safety Car, which is perfect for Lando Norris, who will now get a cheap stop from the lead.
Lap 30/57: Lando Norris pits and leads! The Safety Car has picked up Max Verstappen, who is in second which guaranteed Norris stayed in first place.
Lap 32/57: The Safety Car will be in at the end of Lap 32. Lando Norris has a first F1 victory in his hands. Does he have the pace to keep Max Verstappen at bay? We’re about to find out!
Lap 33/57: So we have 25 laps to go and Lando Norris has a brilliant chance of victory. He’s got track position over Max Verstappen and fresher tyres too. McLaren have been rapid all weekend, so what an opportunity for Norris to win his first ever F1 race. Charles Leclerc is third and Oscar Piastri has fresher tyres than the Ferrari driver, so we should get a fight for the podium positions. Buckle up, get ready!
Lap 33/57: Go go go! Not a great restart from Norris as he has to cover the inside going into Turn One but gets away with it. Norris still leads from Verstappen and Leclerc. Max Verstappen appeared to make an error somewhere on that restart lap and has come under pressure from Charles Leclerc. He keeps the Ferrari at bay but Lando Norris is crucially out of DRS range in the lead.
Lap 34/57: Carlos Sainz tries to go around the outside of Oscar Piastri at Turn 11 but the pair make contact. Piastri stays ahead to keep fourth place. The incident has been noted and Carlos Sainz is not happy about the move.
Lap 37/57: Carlos Sainz will not be happy about this decision. The stewards think Oscar Piastri defended in a fair manner and has not been penalised for that move.
Lap 38/57: Lewis Hamilton is finding impressive speed from somewhere in his Mercedes. The Brit is currently faster than than the four cars in front of him and is right on the rear wing of Sergio Perez. The question is whether he’ll have enough straight-line speed to get past.
Lap 40/57: What a battle! Carlos Sainz gets past Oscar Piastri despite locking up at Turn 17, but the McLaren comes straight back past on the main straight. However, he locks up at the first corner and Sainz finally has P4. Oscar Piastri has front wing damage and loses out to Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton on the run down to Turn 11. Oscar Piastri comes in for a new front wing, and the Australian’s afternoon has been completely ruined. He comes out last of the remaining cars in P19. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz thinks he might also have some damage from the incident.
Lap 42/57: Lando Norris is 16 laps from a maiden win and he’s showing no sign of nerves. He’s a couple tenths quicker every lap compared to Max Verstappen. McLaren fans, take a deep breath.
Lap 48/57: This has been a great battle between Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon. Ocon defending like his career depends on it before Alonso gets the job done into Turn 11 to take ninth place.
Lap 50/57: The contact between Carlos Sainz and Oscar Piastri at the end of the long back straight will be investigated post-race. Sainz is currently in fourth place and Piastri is down in 17th after his pit stop for a new front wing.
Lap 50/57: Lando Norris is doing everything he needs to do, with the lead over Max Verstappen now almost up to six seconds. Despite that, the nerves in the McLaren garage are evident, and who can blame them. What a celebration there’s going to be tonight if the Brit can get this done.
Lap 51/57: Sergio Perez still has Lewis Hamilton within DRS range as the Mercedes driver can’t find a way by.
Lap 54/57: Lando Norris leads by six seconds with four laps to go from Max Verstappen. You can feel the tension in Miami!
Lap 57/57: Just one more lap for Lando Norris. He leads by seven seconds from Max Verstappen. The upgrades on that car have worked well but Norris has also driven brilliantly. What a moment this is going to be. He’s done it! In his 110th Grand Prix, Lando Norris has a Formula 1 victory! And with some style, he takes the chequered flag with his advantage over Max Verstappen at well over seven seconds. Charles Leclerc joins Norris and Verstappen on the podium by taking third ahead of Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz.
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