McLaren has dedicated Lando Norris’ victory in the Miami Grand Prix to the late Gil de Ferran, at what would have been one of his home races.
Norris won for the first time in his Formula 1 career on Sunday, pulling away from Max Verstappen to win in an upgraded McLaren. Florida was de Ferran’s home in the United States prior to his death in January of this year, and after taking the first win since his passing McLaren dedicated the victory to the Brazilian, with a celebratory pit board carrying a tribute message.
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“Lando drove amazing,” Brown told SiriusXM. “The car was super-fast, pit stops were good, strategy worked. I felt bad for Oscar [Piastri] – he drove a brilliant race, unfortunately things didn’t go away and then he had his incident.
“And it was really cool to do it in the home state of Gil de Ferran. This one’s for Gil, and Mansour [Ojjeh] of course, who hasn’t seen two of our most recent wins. So makes it extra special.
Team principal Andrea Stella later added that de Ferran’s presence is still felt within the team: “The victory is for Gil de Ferran. Gil de Ferran is here, he was on the podium. It’s for him.”
Reflecting on the performance that won McLaren the race, Brown says the team had the quickest car in Miami and can look to take the fight to Red Bull on more occasions this year.
“I kept looking at the sectors and I was like ‘is Max going to catch us?’ and no, Lando was actually going quicker,” he said. “So he controlled the race beautifully and great for Lando to get his first win.
“We are [closing the gap to Red Bull]. There’s still a gap, so this is just one race, but it’s a great race and I think we can continue to push forward for the balance of the year. I think we can [win more races].”