Lando Norris snubs the most exclusive golf club. Lando Norris is finally a Formula One Grand Prix winner at the 110th time of asking. The British driver was filmed earlier this year taking a ‘lie detector’ test for Sky F1 and he admitted to making a more positive mindset for 2024 to help him claim his maiden F1 victory.

The McLaren driver held the dubious F1 record for the number of podiums without scoring a victory with a score of 15 prior to his win in the Miami heat. Prior to arriving in the state of Florida, Norris had planned to take a flight up to Georgia after the Grand Prix was finished because he had booked an early T-off time at the world famous Augusta National Golf Club, which hosts the annual grand slam tournament known as ‘The Masters.’

 

 

 

Norris invited to exclusive Augusta club

The exclusive course is not open to the public and non member players are invited to play only as a guest of a member. 

However, Lewis Hamilton  suggested to Norris that he change his plans and remain in Miami on the night of his maiden F1 victory. “I just told him he needs to stay tonight and he is going to try and change his flight. He has got to [stay], he has just won a race,” the seven-time F1 champion told reporters.

Max Verstappen is not used to being outpaced in an F1 Grand Prix but he was among the first to congratulate Norris on his success. After celebrating with his McLaren team at the Hard Rock Stadium, Lando met up again with Max to party to the Miami beat.

The pair were seen with Alpine driver Pierre Gasly at the exclusive E11EVEN nightclub which features DJs, burlesque dancers and trapeze artists. Images and videos of the F1 stars were captured by other partygoers and uploaded to social media.

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Other famous stars on the Sunday night guest list were NBA icons LeBron James and Kevin Durant, Miami Dolphins NFL star Tyreek Hill and Kansas City Chiefs duo Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.

Norris admitted he’d taken Hamilton’s advice when he confirmed after the trophy ceremonies were complete: “I was meant to fly [tonight], but Zak [Brown, McLaren CEO] just told me we fly tomorrow. I’m not going to sleep – I’m going all the way! I might have just a scratch on my nose tomorrow, but I don’t care.

“This only happens once, when you’re taking your first win. It’s nice that it was here at Miami – I was kind of hoping it would be at Silverstone but I’ll try to do it there as well. Tonight is going to be a good night.”

The McLaren driver had been taking a break in Amsterdam prior to the Miami Grand Prix when pictures began to emerge on social media of him with his face in bandages. Lando had been celebrating Koningsdag (King’s Day) with DJ Martin Garixx when the story emerged Norris had cut his face on broken glass – hence the reference to “a scratch on my nose tomorrow.”

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Lando goes clubbing

After the nightclub in Miami, Norris retired to the McLaren team hotel where the festivities continued into the early morning when Norris posted in Instagram: “Recovery one percent, worth it.”

After snubbing the original time slot offered by the Augusta officials, Norris was graciously granted another later in the day to accommodate his and Zak Brown’s rejigged travel arrangements.

Lando Norris has suffered for some time from social media trolls who regularly post under the McLaren driver’s comments with the “Lando No-wins” nickname. So follow his F1 victory, Norris thanked his doubters for giving him added fuel and making his victory even more enjoyable.

This was just the second victory for McLaren since Norris entered the sport in 2019. The other was the glimmer of hope Daniel Ricciardo showed when driving alongside Norris at McLaren who need home a team 1-2 in a crazy mixed up 2021 Monza race.

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Another tattoo for McLaren CEO Brown

“I go on Instagram and I like all the comments of people abusing me, I freaking love it,” Norris said. “It makes me smile more than anything, especially Lando No-wins.

“That’s become the thing. And yeah, for me to finally prove those people wrong and prove to people that didn’t think I could go out and do it, it’s put an even bigger smile on my face today. So I thank all of them.”

CEO Zak Brown is now coming under pressure to have a tattoo line drawing of the Miami International Autodrome to mark Lando’s first win for McLaren. This is something Brown agreed to do with Ricciardo when he claimed his first victory for the team at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.

Team mate Oscar Piastri will leave Miami with mixed emotions. He was second quickest in Friday practice and went on to qualify for the Sprint in sixth place, which is where he finished following Lando’s exit at turn one of the first lap. The young Aussie only had half the upgrades that were on Norris car but he will receive the full package next time out in Imola.

Piastri also qualified sixth for the Grand Prix and was running up in second during the early part of the race, before a coming together with Carlos Sainz saw him fall down the order and finish outside the points in P13.

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Ricciardo out for Imola Grand Prix

The headlines following Formula One’s visit to Miami in 2024 are all about the maiden victory for Land Norris. The McLaren driver holds the record for the most podiums before claiming an F1 win but his win in the state of Florida was certainly no fluke.

McLaren had brought almost a B-Spec car for Norris to Miami but  his team mate had to be content with receiving just half the number of upgrades. Practice One on Friday was a frenetic affair as the team tried to find the base line setup for the weekend and when the one hour session was complete, Lando languished down in P16…. READ MORE