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The 2024 F1 Miami GP saw Lando Norris win his first career race. The McLaren driver started the race on the third row but what followed was brilliant race management by Norris, which helped him keep the tires alive when everyone else pitted.
What was surprising for many was that even in older medium tires, Norris was quicker than the Red Bull and Ferrari of Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc on fresh hard tires.
Then came the safety car, which gave Lando Norris a massive advantage and the lead in the race. In the end, the McLaren was just too fast, and Norris was untouchable. The young driver banked his first career win at the F1 Miami GP in what was just the second loss for Red Bull this season.
After the second sprint weekend of the year, what did we learn? Let's take a look.
2024 F1 Miami GP: Key Takeaways
#1 The battle at the front could get very interesting
Three different teams have won this season. There is, however, one interesting part. Red Bull brought a substantial upgrade to the car in Japan, and McLaren brought its major upgrade in Miami.
Despite all of this, Ferrari was quite competitive against both of them at the F1 Miami GP, even though the team has yet to bring an upgrade. Ferrari brings a major upgrade to Imola, that upgrade could be the one that closes the last few tenths to the front of the grid.
Looking at the pattern and how the season has panned out, single-team dominance might not be the reality, as we could see a legitimate fight at the front of the grid.
#2 Red Bull has no clue about what to do with the second seat
The sprint saw Daniel Ricciardo pull off a blinder and finish P4. That was a blistering performance that brought back memories of the old Ricciardo. What was surprising was what happened next.
Ricciardo's F1 Miami GP weekend was turned upside down with a poor qualifying session that saw him eliminated in Q1 and hence have a poor race.
Yuki Tsunoda, on his part, had a brilliant race and deserves all the plaudits for Sunday, his Saturday, however, was underwhelming. Sergio Perez on the senior team was being harassed by Lewis Hamilton, who was driving a much slower car.
All in all, Red Bull came out of the F1 Miami GP scratching its head over who should team up with Max Verstappen next season.
#3 Mercedes is in a bigger hole than it would have realized
Mercedes had upgrades on the car at the F1 Miami GP, but if you look at how it fared on-track, it would be a hard sell to actually make that claim. The German team saw George Russell finish behind Yuki Tsunoda in the race, and it was because the car didn't have the pace.
At some point, the team has to accept reality and just put the head down and start working, the shortcut to the front doesn't exist, and Toto Wolff would be wise to just focus on the car from now on.
#4 Kevin Magnussen needs to be reined in
Kevin Magnussen was investigated for unsportsmanlike conduct during the F1 Miami GP. The Danish driver did seemingly lose the plot completely during the sprint and even ended up making a mistake in the race as he crashed into Logan Sargeant.
At 10 penalty points, Kevin is just two short of being banned from racing, something that he clearly won't be happy about if it happens.
#5 Alpine is making stronger progress than expected
Alpine scored its first point this season, and arguably it was the result of some driver magic and some improvement in the pace of the car. The development should be applauded because, considering where it was in Bahrain, this is a significant jump.
The F1 Miami GP showed that the team is making progress at a much faster rate than it would have imagined.
