“A lot of people doubted me” - Lando Norris on 110-race wait for first F1 win

Lando Norris says he is happy to prove his doubters wrong by claiming his maiden F1 victory at the Miami Grand Prix.

Starting fifth, Norris ran longer in the opening stint than his rivals and was able to jump into the lead when he made his pit stop under a Safety Car that was deployed at mid-distance.

From there, the McLaren driver had the pace to impressively pull clear of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to end a 110-race wait for his breakthrough grand prix win.

"Oh...about time, huh? F**k!.... Sorry!” Norris said. "What a race. It's been a long time coming. Finally I've managed to do it. 

"I'm so happy for my whole team. I finally delivered for them. Long day, tough race. Finally on top, so I'm over the moon.

"The whole weekend has been good. I've had some little setbacks along the way but I knew on Friday we had the pace.

"Just a couple mistakes here and there. Today we managed to put it together. We did the perfect strategy and it all paid off.”

Norris added: “Thanks to McLaren, everyone. I'll give a shout out to my mum and dad of course.

"I'm just proud. A lot of people doubted me along the way. I've made a lot of mistakes over my last five years in my short career but  today we put it altogether.

"This is all for the team. I stuck with McLaren because I could believe in them and do believe in them. Today we proved exactly that.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella joined Norris on the podium and was full of praise for the 24-year-old Briton.

“Most important is the victory for Lando because he deserves it So much,” he told Sky. “We have always said, as soon as we give him the right material, he will make it and he made it.

"I know what kind of work is behind this. It's so deserved for the McLaren team. I hope everyone enjoys this moment.

"This victory is for Gil de Ferran [former McLaren sporting director].”