During the Miami Grand Prix won by Lando Norris, the safety car came out in front of the second driver in the order, not the first, which happened to be Lando Norris. It is clear that this greatly helped him on his way to victory.
The FIA has commented on the question of why the safety car at the Miami Grand Prix ran Max Verstappen instead of Lando Norris.
The move essentially gave McLaren a pit stop, allowing the Briton to hold on to first place instead of dropping down several positions as the field thinned out. The 24-year-old gradually moved into first place after those ahead of him pitted for new tyres, having initially been in sixth place.
By being in front of the safety car, Norris was maintaining the maximum speed given by the data on the steering wheel, which is greater than that of the safety car, and therefore everyone behind him, with Verstappen ‘in the lead’.
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The situation was rectified by the safety car crew, who let everyone behind them pass, and they lined up behind McLaren, who eventually reached the safety car and was properly first.
“It was an instruction to send the safety car at the last minute, so they missed Lando Norris by about 20 meters,” the FIA explained. At the same time, the rules determine that the safety car will drive onto the track after its activation, and it doesn’t matter if the race leader is behind it or not.
“The race management decided to drive the safety car slowly in the interests of the safety of the track marshals. It wasn’t a priority to straighten out the standings. So the safety car waited for everyone to line up behind him and then let them go in front of him to overtake the McLaren of Land Norris.”
As the race restarted, Norris began to increase his lead on Verstappen. Partly thanks to the fresher tires and better race pace that the Woking team squeezed out of significant technical modifications, but also due to floor damage the Dutchman suffered when he missed the turn 14/15 chicane on lap 21. Unless it was Christian Horner’s excuse, because Max Verstappen himself did not feel any consequences of the incident.
McLaren driver Lando Norris eventually won by more than seven seconds.
