Norris pushes off hate comments: “I freaking love it”

Lando Norris relishes his first Grand Prix win as a chance to prove his doubters wrong.

After 110 races in Formula 1, the 2024 Miami Grand Prix was the scene of Norris’ first ever Grand Prix victory. He took the lead from Max Verstappen on Lap 30, thanks to a well-timed pit stop and a strategy that paid off, and held his own to stay ahead for the remaining 27 laps.

Missed opportunities?

Norris’ first win was “a long time coming” according to him, McLaren CEO Zak Brown, and plenty of others. Not just because of the record held as the driver with the most podiums without a race win (15), but also because of several missed chances at taking a win.

“There was one opportunity, and that was Qatar last year,” Norris said. “To win the main race was maybe a bit more of an ask. I don’t know what Max’s [Verstappen] gap to Oscar [Piastri] and I was — like five seconds, six seconds, I think — so you can’t go against that and put that ever away. But as a Sprint race, the Sprint race was the loss.

“I don’t know if there was a main race that I’ve missed out on, to be honest. And that’s obviously the more valuable one — the one that means a lot more to you. So I kind of want to say no. I want to say I don’t think there was a Sunday where I’ve thrown stuff away.

“I’ve thrown away maybe a podium or a P2, but I think every opportunity to try and take a win, I’ve been there. There’s a couple of times when I’ve been blocked from those opportunities. One was Singapore last year, and Carlos [Sainz] took it. And another one was Australia this year, where the two Ferraris were ahead. Apart from that, there wasn’t a Sunday.”

Many people remember the 2021 Russian Grand Prix as Norris’ biggest missed opportunity: he started the race on pole and led almost all of it before his hesitation to switch to wet tyres lost him his chance at a first win.

But Norris doesn’t count that one, saying: “And as much as people want to say there was this and that and Russia [2021] and Qatar, there wasn’t a Sunday I’ve missed out on a win because of something I’ve done wrong. There were pole positions. There was a Sprint race win. But nothing more than that. And I think that’s why I never lost faith.

“I never didn’t believe in what I could go out and do. So, happy to put that to bed and prove a lot of these people wrong. I go on Instagram and I like all the comments of people abusing me — I freaking love it. It makes me smile more than anything, especially ‘Lando No-wins.’ That’s become the thing.

“For me to finally prove those people wrong and prove to people that didn’t think I could go out and do it, it’s put an even bigger smile on my face. So I thank all of them.”

Thanking supporters and critics

While Norris seemed unfazed and even spurred on by the critical comments, it was also important for him to acknowledge his supporters.

“You’re always going to have people that don’t support you and people that do. When you’re out there on the podium and I do my in-lap, there’s a lot of people out there cheering you on and waving and congratulating. So I thank all of them.

“Of course, the people I keep closest to me — my team, my engineers, my manager, my trainer, my family — those are the people whose words you always take as something more meaningful.

“Anyone can say what they want. I’m always for that. People don’t need to like me. They don’t need to support me. I’m not always asking for those types of things. But yeah, when people doubt me in certain situations, you want to go out and prove them wrong.

“They think they know what they’re talking about and when you prove that they don’t, then that’s a nice thing to go out and do. So, yeah not like a dig at anyone. I wanted to say like the Valtteri line, ‘To whom it may concern’ but I was like, ‘That’s copyrighted,’ so I didn’t want to repeat it; but it’s just nice to just go out there and do my job and show people what I’m capable of.”

Feature Image Credit: @McLarenF1 on X