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USA Today via Reuters

Lando Norris has finally done it and won his first-ever race in Formula 1, and that too by meeting Max Verstappen on pure pace and merit. However, the Dutchman doesn’t seem phased at all and was quite chill in the interviews and in the cooldown room during the “Max Verstappen podcast” as well.

Race winner Lando Norris decided to celebrate the win by showing off his $430,000 accessory, while Max Verstappen was busy laughing at his misery.

For Max Verstappen, the race did not go well, as a late safety car caught him out and gave Norris the win. But prior to the safety car, the Dutchman had knocked out a bollard on the track and caused a virtual safety car. As the drivers made it to the cooldown room, they started reacting to the highlights of the race shown on the screen when the bollard moment came on. Verstappen was seen laughing at the moment that could’ve potentially ended his race.

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And while the Red Bull driver was busy doing that, Lando Norris was flaunting his $430,000 watch from Richard Mille. The watch here in question is the Richard Mille RM 67-02 Automatic Qatar in a 38MM case. It’s the lightest self-winding watch and is part of the ultra-rare, celebrated collection from Richard Mille. We guess it was the perfect moment for the British driver to show off this watch, as you never win your first race again.

Regardless of Lando Norris beating Verstappen with pure pace, the Dutchman’s calm and cheerful behavior suggests that he knows he’s got the championship in the bag. Even during the post-race interviews, when Verstappen was asked if this was true of McLaren, he replied, “I hope not” and then laughed it off. Still, Norris winning the race despite starting behind the first two rows says a lot about McLaren’s pace. Let’s now have a look at how Norris grabbed the victory.

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Max Verstappen’s tire struggles and untimely safety car paved the way for Norris’ Miami GP win

Lando Norris started the race in P5, lost a position off the start, and ran for an effective P6 until the safety car was brought out after Logan Sargeant was hit by Kevin Magnussen. Norris was the only front-runner who hadn’t pitted until that point, whereas Max Verstappen had pitted a couple laps prior. As a result, Norris pitted under the safety car and leaped Verstappen to lead the race.

via Reuters

After the restart, many expected that the Dutchman would catch Norris and win the race. However, Verstappen had been complaining about his car’s grip and tire wear since the weekend started, and that was exactly what happened in the second half of the race. The Red Bull was understeering all over the place, and the 3X champ kept losing time to Norris. On the final lap, the gap was about 8 seconds, and the Brit safely brought his upgraded McLaren home to win his first race.

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What did you make of the cool-down room moment? Does Max Verstappen’s laughter, despite the terrible tire wear, worry you for what is to come?

Written by

Pranay Bhagi

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Pranay is an F1 Content Analyst and writer at EssentiallySports who effortlessly blends his technical knowledge and passion for F1 in his writing. He has a knack for unique content research and specializes in trend-setting articles. Pranay’s coverage of the departure of Guenther Steiner from Haas received appreciation from readers.
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Edited by

Shivali Nathta