Norris denounces critics: 'People thought I couldn't handle Verstappen'

A long-held dream came true for Lando Norris when he won the Miami Grand Prix. The McLaren driver points out that many people doubted him and thought he would succumb to pressure from Max Verstappen.

Norris: 'Totally different situation'

Norris' first Formula 1 victory had been a long time coming. He was very close to it once before: in the 2021 Russian, he was leading but continued too long on slicks after it started to rain. During the press conference, he is confronted with that situation and asked whether the same scenario was running through his mind in the closing stages of the race.

"Russia ’21 was a very, very different situation to today. A lot of people talk crap about Sochi and the things which went on, and, yes, I potentially lost out on a victory. I did lose out on a victory. I and we. I think I never want to drag the team down, but I didn't do the best of jobs, and as a team, we didn't. So that happened," Norris said.

Norris: 'People keep using that against me'

He continued: "And as much as people like to continue to use that and say, even after China last weekend when I made a mistake in Turn 1 on Lewis. Yes, I mean, a lot of people doubted that I could go out and win races and perform under the pressure of leading the race, especially with Max behind you and those types of things. But really, this year, I felt more confident than ever that I wasn't thinking of these things."

"Like, probably last year I would have thought of it, but this year, I've been much better with just kind of keeping my mind focused and focusing on my job. I'm doing a good job, and I'm fast, and I'm executing things exactly how I want to do. I've improved on a lot of my weaknesses, and all that hard work has paid off," the race winner said.