Lando Norris found himself in a fortunate position during the Miami Grand Prix when the safety car intervened, offering him a strategic advantage.
This timely intervention allowed Norris to benefit from a free pit stop, prompting an initial incredulous reaction from Max Verstappen, who exclaimed, “What the fuck?”
Verstappen’s swift acceptance of the situation, in contrast to Norris, the race leader at the time, reflected his acknowledgment of the circumstances.
“I guess there is not much we can do now,” remarked the three-time drivers’ champion to his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase via team radio. This comment followed his initial reaction of bewilderment: “Huh, what the fuck?”
Initially, Red Bull had taken the lead in the early stages of the race at the Miami International Autodrome. However, McLaren strategically elevated Norris to the lead position during the pit stop phase by opting for a longer stint on track.
When Kevin Magnussen and Logan Sargeant collided on lap 28, there arose the possibility of Norris benefiting from a well-timed pit stop under the safety car.
Unfortunately, the decision to deploy the safety car came slightly too late for Norris to capitalize on it. Consequently, Max Verstappen, in second position, was the first driver to be picked up by Bernd Maylander in the safety car.
Due to the precise timing of the safety car intervention, Norris was able to maintain his advantage by circulating at the delta time, thereby extending his lead. He then executed a pit stop without the pressure of time constraints at the end of that lap.
The eventual release of the safety car was necessary for it to pick up the leading McLaren, as failing to do so would have unfairly disadvantaged the rest of the pack.
In response to the confusion surrounding the safety car’s choice of picking up Verstappen instead of Norris, the FIA provided clarification. “It was a late call to send the safety car out, so they missed [Lando] Norris by about 20 meters,” explained the FIA.
“And then at that point race control decided to go for a slow lap to gather all the cars and to allow the marshals to start the recovery of the vehicle, which wouldn’t have been possible if they’d let all cars pass the SC [safety car] directly.
“So they waited until all cars were gathered together before allowing them to pass.”
If the safety car had picked up Norris, the McLaren would still have benefited, possibly emerging ahead of the sixth-place he held before the pit stop phase. However, due to the timing of the call, he enjoyed a completely free stop at the end of lap 29.
Nevertheless, there was no fault or oversight on the part of the safety car. According to the regulations, it is not obligated to pick up the race leader, a fact that Verstappen and Red Bull came to understand, leaving the Dutchman resigned to his unfortunate circumstance.
