Donald Trump congratulated Lando Norris on his superb win in Miami (Picture: Getty)
Lando Norris says it was an ‘honour’ to receive the support of Donald Trump as he clinched his maiden Formula One victory at the Miami Grand Prix, revealing the former US president called himself a ‘lucky charm’.
The 24-year-old Brit opened up a sizeable gap between himself, Max Verstappen and the rest of the field, taking full advantage of a safety car period to pit for tyres and retain the lead in some style at Florida’s Miami International Autodrome.
The McLaren driver held the record for the most podium finishes without securing a win – after 109 races in the sport – and the joy and relief was clear to see as he finally broke his duck of five years.
Red Bull sensation Verstappen, in the end, had to settle for second place, with Ferarri’s Charles Leclerc taking third and Lewis Hamilton crossing the line in a season-best finish of sixth for Mercedes.
One of the thousands of spectators watching on in Miami was Trump, who arrived on Sunday just days after his $250,000-a-ticket fundraiser – which he had planned for the race – was shut down.
At the start of the week, the Washington Post reported that Miami GP and F1 united in blocking Steven Witkoff, an associate of Trump, from hosting the fundraiser, due to take place in his Paddock Club rooftop suite, as it was being used for ‘a political purpose’.
However, McLaren subsequently confirmed that they had accepted a request from Trump to visit their garage in order to ‘recognise and respect the office of President of the United States.
Pictures after the thrilling race showed Trump enjoying the moment with the team and Norris has lifted the lid on what the ex-president said to him as they shared a moment shortly after Sunday’s action
‘He saw me after and he came up to congratulate me so I guess it’s an honour,’ the Bristol-born driver later explained.
‘Whenever you have someone like this come up to you to take time out of their life to pay their respect for what you’ve done … it has to be an honour.
The Briton insisted ‘you’ve got to be thankful’ and ‘respect’ support from the likes of Trump, with the latter apparently telling the driver he was his ‘lucky charm’.
‘I don’t know if he’s going to come to more races now,’ Norris added.
‘But there’s a lot of special, cool people that have been here this weekend.
‘Donald is someone that you’ve got to have a lot of respect for in many ways and for anyone like that who acknowledge what you can go out and do, and the work ethic that goes into things, you’ve got to be thankful for that.’
More to follow.