The Miami Grand Prix, which was held last Sunday at the Miami International Autodrome in Florida, reignited the Max Verstappen-Lando Norris rivalry that had defined the 2024 season. Once again, the McLaren driver appeared to struggle in wheel-to-wheel combat with the reigning world champion. It was clearly visible at the start, when car #4 tried to take advantage of an imperfect launch by the Dutchman. In Turn 2, Lando Norris attempted to make a move, but Max Verstappen firmly shut the door on him. “With Max, it’s like this: either you crash, or you don’t pass,” the Briton said polemically in his post-race interviews.
Andrea Stella’s Analysis
His team principal, Andrea Stella, gave a slightly different take on the incident when speaking to Sky: “On the first lap, in hindsight, it would have potentially been wiser for Lando to lift and accept that he would take the lead later on, because the car was fast enough—but that’s easy to say after the fact.” His words hinted that even within the papaya team, there’s a sense that Lando Norris lacked composure in that critical moment.
Later, still during the first stint, Norris once again found Max Verstappen in his path and needed four laps to get past him, despite a clear performance advantage in the car. The vice world champion had actually completed an earlier pass on his rival but was told by the pit wall to give the position back, as the move had taken place outside track limits.
Stella also commented on that situation, confirming the team’s real-time interpretation: “Giving the position back? I think it was the right thing to do because, in our view, Lando was off track and you have to return the position on the track,” Andrea Stella said. “There was some bad luck, but we need to behave correctly. He could have risked a penalty, so it was the right call.” – the former Ferrari race engineer concluded at the end of the Miami Grand Prix.
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