Motorsports

Lando Norris was the biggest star during Sunday's Miami Grand Prix, but he was far from the only one at the Miami International Autodrome.

Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Kevin Durant, Jimmy Butler, Joe Burrow and Myles Garrett were among those who watched the McLaren driver become a Formula One race winner for the first time in his career:

STOP IT @PatrickMahomes 🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/SAbNyCcBER

— BWT Alpine Formula One Team (@AlpineF1Team) May 5, 2024

Travis Kelce’s week:

Monday: Become NFL’s highest-paid TE
Saturday: Kentucky Derby in Louisville
Sunday: Miami Grand Prix with Patrick Mahomes, co-owners of Alpine F1
pic.twitter.com/MYob1X0hjF

— Front Office Sports (@FOS) May 5, 2024

Jimmy Butler and Kevin Durant were both at F1 in Miami today

Do you think we’ll see them on the same team next season? 👀 pic.twitter.com/vAXOQKC8h7

— Playbook Sports (@PlaybookSN) May 4, 2024

joe burrow is at the miami gp, finally some real superstars pic.twitter.com/gc9W0RT0mj

— mar. (@BELLIN5HAM) May 5, 2024

The NFL and NBA stars were treated to a shocking result, which is how any race won by someone outside of Red Bull's Max Verstappen can be described in today's Formula One.

While Verstappen won four of the season's first five races and started Sunday's contest in pole position, Norris moved ahead of him thanks in part to a mid-race safety car and never looked back. The Red Bull driver finished in second place, while Ferrari's Charles Leclerc rounded out the podium.

It was a long-awaited result for Norris.

Nate Saunders of ESPN noted he held the record for the most podium finishes without a win with 15 prior to Sunday's result. But that all changed during the first of three Grand Prix events in the United States this season.

And it all changed in front of some of the biggest stars of American sports.

Max Verstappen has had an outstanding start to the 2024 Formula One season, but it was Lando Norris who took home the victory at the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.

It was the first F1 Grand Prix victory for the 24-year-old Norris, who has been racing since 2019. The win came in dominant fashion as Norris led for much of the second half of the race and cruised to the finish line several seconds ahead of the second-place Verstappen.

LANDO NORRIS WINS THE MIAMI GRAND PRIX 🏆

His first F1 win 👏 pic.twitter.com/Fg6QR67vId

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 5, 2024

After the third Miami Grand Prix, here's a look at the full rundown of Sunday's leaderboard:

1. Lando Norris
2. Max Verstappen
   
3. Charles Leclerc
   
4. Carlos Sainz
   
5. Sergio Pérez
   
6. Lewis Hamilton
   
7. Yuki Tsunoda
   
8. George Russell
   
9. Fernando Alonso
   
10. Esteban Ocon
    
11. Nico Hülkenberg
    
12. Pierre Gasly
    
13. Lance Stroll
    
14. Zhou Guanyu
    
15. Oscar Piastri
    
16. Daniel Ricciardo
    
17. Valtteri Bottas
    
18. Kevin Magnussen
    
19. Alexander Albon
    
20. Logan Sargeant
    

---

The race was up for groups through the first 20 laps or so, but Norris and Verstappen created some distance from the rest of the group early in the second half of the race.

Norris defended a push from Verstappen to remain the leader, and that attack was the last he would have to fight off as he won comfortably. Norris led by 4.9 seconds with 10 laps to go, and increased that lead to 5.9 seconds heading into the final five laps.

He was flawless in the final laps of the race and held on to get his first Grand Prix win.

📻 "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! We did it Will, we did it!"

LANDO NORRIS, YOU ARE A RACE WINNER!#F1 #MiamiGP pic.twitter.com/g1WnvlLBcj

— Formula 1 (@F1) May 5, 2024

Norris started the race in fifth place but quickly climbed the leaderboard and showed pure dominance down the stretch. The win was a long time coming for the British driver and it seems he's on his way to an outstanding career.

Taking down Verstappen, who won nine straight races earlier this year, is no easy task, but Norris did it with ease on Sunday and showed promise for his career ahead.

After Norris finally notched his first Grand Prix win, fans praised the driver for his perseverance over the years.

LANDO NORRIS FINALLY GETS HIS WIN pic.twitter.com/NCQVt1Y9KY

— Mahir 🇹🇷🇬🇧 (@ScrewderiaF1) May 5, 2024

LANDO NORRIS YOU ARE A FORMULA 1 RACE WINNER!! https://t.co/mMV3xXWCql

— ray 🪩 (@ln4norris) May 5, 2024

LANDO NORRIS IS OFFICIALLY A FORMULA 1 RACE WINNER!!!! pic.twitter.com/Fk83n7IWd6

— saff logged out! (@lovepiastri) May 5, 2024

me when lando norris pic.twitter.com/rMAfiVNLwC

— gen (@forsainz) May 5, 2024

SWEET VICTORY FOR LANDO NORRIS AT THE F1 MIAMI GRAND PRIX 👏

McLaren gets its first win in the United States since 2012 🏆 pic.twitter.com/KJqaD7iOiH

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 5, 2024

LANDO NORRIS IS A FORMULA ONE RACE WINNER pic.twitter.com/vYtsJlCCLX

— WTF1 (@wtf1official) May 5, 2024

LANDO NORRIS RACE WINNER 🧡🏆 pic.twitter.com/kJgjKuOcnz

— McLaren Shadow (@McLarenShadow) May 5, 2024

LANDO NORRIS YOU ARE A FORMULA 1 RACE WINNER!!!!!!!!!!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

— Matt Gallagher (@MattP1Gallagher) May 5, 2024

LANDO NORRIS WINS. LANDO NORRIS WINS THE MIAMI GRAND PRIX

— LN⁴ (@LN4) May 5, 2024

HE’S ONLY GONE AND DONE IT!!!🔥 GOATTTTT🐐

My heart was racing the ENTIRE race I could only imagine Lando’s🤣

Congrats mate @LandoNorris so deserved❤️🔥 pic.twitter.com/SbjRFV862p

— Fifakill (@Fifakill_) May 5, 2024

Norris has been close to his first win but could never take the top spot on the podium until Sunday. Before the Miami Grand Prix, Norris had 110 starts with 15 podium appearances. Now, he finally has his first win.

If you thought New York City traffic was bad enough before, just imagine being stuck behind Lewis Hamilton.

The Formula One star got behind the wheel for a ride down Fifth Avenue in the Big Apple. In addition to briefly speeding down the well-known thoroughfare, he pulled off a few donuts.

.@LewisHamilton making history at the Empire State Building @MercedesAMGF1 @WhatsApp pic.twitter.com/f9ybCuHjSL

— Empire State Building (@EmpireStateBldg) April 30, 2024

A Birds Eye View of @LewisHamilton tearing up 5th Avenue @WhatsApp @MercedesAMGF1 pic.twitter.com/oQWDCGwdjB

— Empire State Building (@EmpireStateBldg) April 30, 2024

Hamilton's appearance was part of a public relations event between Mercedes and WhatsApp, who began an official partnership last November, and coincided with the first event of the Formula One season on American soil.

The first practice session for the Miami Grand Prix is scheduled for Friday with the race getting underway Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.

Hamilton will hope this is the weekend his farewell campaign with Mercedes kicks into gear. The seven-time F1 champion is just ninth in the driver standings and hasn't placed higher than seventh through five races.

For the first time since 1998, Michael Jordan got to hoist a trophy as the winner of an event Sunday afternoon.

Tyler Reddick captured the 2024 Geico 500 on Sunday, marking the first win for Jordan's 23XI Racing with the six-time NBA Finals MVP in attendance.

"You going to celebrate?"

"Yeah!"

😊😊😊 pic.twitter.com/1UCsrWOeGI

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 21, 2024

It's the first time he's been at the track for a @23XIRacing win.

Michael Jordan talks with @JamieLittleTV from Victory Lane at Talladega!@Jumpman23 | @TylerReddick pic.twitter.com/P0skwWY0bp

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) April 21, 2024

Jordan co-owns 23XI Racing with Denny Hamlin. The team has won six races overall in the NASCAR Cup series since launching in 2021, but the first five came with Jordan not in attendance.

"Denny keeps saying I was bad luck when I came to the track, but today we proved him wrong. ... As you know, this is the NBA playoffs right now. For me, this is like an NBA playoff game. … For us to win a big race like this, it means so much to me.

"Look, I'm all in. I love it. It replaces a lot of the competitiveness I had in basketball. But this is even worse, because I have no control. If I was playing basketball, I'd have total control. So I live vicariously through the drivers."

Reddick has won three races since joining 23XI last season and finished sixth in the points standings in 2023. His win over the weekend will lock him into a playoff spot later this year, and Sunday was his fifth straight top-10 finish and seventh of the young NASCAR season.

If the 28-year-old Reddick can keep up his momentum, this likely won't be the only time Jordan is celebrating in victory lane this season.

A race car veered off the track and crashed into a crowd of spectators and race officials during an event in the town of Diyatalawa, Sri Lanka, on Sunday, killing seven people and injuring 20 others, officials told Bharatha Mallawarachi of the Associated Press.

The cause of the crash remains unclear. The report noted that 45,000 spectators were in attendance at the race circuit at a Sri Lankan military academy for the Fox Hill Supercross event, which was organized by the Sri Lankan army and Sri Lanka Automobile Sports.

Police spokesman Nihal Thalduwa said four officials were among the seven killed when the race car crashed into the crowd. He added that of the 20 being treated at the hospital, three were in critical condition.

The race was suspended following the accident, which occurred during the 17th out of 24 events scheduled. Thalduwa said police have opened an investigation into the crash.

Diyatalawa is located about 110 miles east of the Sri Lankan capital city of Colombo.

For the fourth time in five races this season, Max Verstappen is victorious.

The defending Formula 1 champion was again dominant in Sunday's Chinese Grand Prix, defeating second-place Lando Norris by nearly 14 seconds.

MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS IN SHANGHAI 🏆

That's Max's first victory in China 🤩

Lando Norris takes second behind the Dutchman with Sergio Perez finishing third 👏👏#F1 #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/UasqOy8PG7

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 21, 2024

The 2024 season is already shaping up to be a repeat of 2023, as Verstappen has four wins and one retirement through five races. Dating back to last season, he has won 11 of his last 12 races and 21 of his last 23 overall.

"It felt amazing," Verstappen said after the race. "All weekend we were incredibly quick and it was just enjoyable to drive. The car was basically on rails and I could do whatever I wanted to with it. Those kind of weekends are amazing to feel."

lando norris leading the race with max verstappen behind him pic.twitter.com/hMsro3wNF7

— tiana ⁴ 🪩 (@literallylando) April 21, 2024

Verstappen led the race nearly wire-to-wire, only briefly relinquishing his advantage to take a pit stop.

While his dominance is historic, some are starting to push back Verstappen's reign. Norris, who finished second for the eighth time in his career, said the same driver winning every week could get boring for fans.

"Now, we are seeing more dominance than ever, so it is never going to be the best to watch and the only exciting races have been the ones that Max is not in," Norris told reporters before the race. "Of course it is going be [a turn off for fans] - there is no way you can say it won't be.

"If you see the same driver winning every single time without a fight then of course it does start to become boring and that is obvious. You have got one of the best drivers ever in Formula 1, in one of the most dominant cars and it is a combination that is deadly. If Max wasn't there and you had two Perezs it wouldn't be the case."

As it stands, it doesn't much matter what anyone else thinks. Verstappen is putting together the most dominant run in racing history and is arguably the top athlete in any sport at the moment.

The 26-year-old already holds a 25-point lead over second-place Sergio Pérez in the standings just five races into the season. We're already looking at a repeat of the 2023 campaign, where Verstappen dominated to such a degree that everyone else in the sport is competing for second place.

EA Sports has unveiled the first full trailer for F1 24 featuring reigning three-time Formula One world champion Max Verstappen.

Be One of the 20: May 31 ⭐

Play #F124 3 days early with the Champions Edition: https://t.co/eQkiXfwYWg pic.twitter.com/jfDmOQRUIo

— EA SPORTS F1 (@EASPORTSF1) April 18, 2024

Verstappen is the cover athlete on the Champions Edition version of the game which will be released three days earlier than the original version, which hits shelves on May 31.

Per EA.com, this year's version of the game features EA SPORTS Dynamic Handling that "redefines the feel of the car to produce a realistic and predictable performance across wheel and pad."

Other changes include the use of driver audio samples from actual F1 broadcasts reacting to on-track incidents, a broadcast presentation with cut scenes and changes to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Lusail International Circuit and Jeddah Corniche Circuit to make them more closely match the real-world tracks.

EA has also revamped career mode to allow players to use their favorite active driver or legends of the sport, including James Hunt and Juan Pablo Montoya in the Champions Edition.

F1 24 is the fourth iteration of the series since it returned to the EA Sports banner in 2021. The standard edition of the game features Lewis Hamilton, Charles LeClerc and Lando Norris on the cover.

The game will be available for the PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and Microsoft Windows.

EA Sports announced Formula One drivers Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris as cover athletes for the upcoming F1 24 video game on Tuesday.

It was revealed that Verstappen will be featured on the Champions Edition cover, while Hamilton, Leclerc and Norris will share the Standard Edition cover:

Two words to describe the #F124 Champions Edition: Simply lovely 😎

Pre-order #F124 to grab exclusive content, and start playing up to 3-days early 🎮

➡➡ https://t.co/XPhxABjDJl pic.twitter.com/RctzIs5wjR

— EA SPORTS F1 (@EASPORTSF1) April 16, 2024

🏎🏎🏎 Three cars, three stars ⭐⭐⭐

Say hello to the #F124 Standard Edition cover, featuring @LewisHamilton, @Charles_Leclerc & @LandoNorris!

🎮 Take to the grid, this May: https://t.co/JJptpLEEdW pic.twitter.com/iAhUZt55xz

— EA SPORTS F1 (@EASPORTSF1) April 16, 2024

F1 24 is the 23rd Formula One video game overall since the video game series' inception in 2000, and the fourth since EA Sports re-acquired the rights in 2021.

Verstappen's choice as the lone cover athlete for the Champions Edition comes as little surprise given his dominance of the sport in recent years.

The 26-year-old has won three consecutive F1 points titles, and he is atop the standings again this season with three wins in four races thus far.

With another points title this year, Verstappen will become only the fifth driver to win four or more championships in their career.

One of the drivers to have already accomplished that feat is Hamilton, who won four straight points titles from 2017 to 2020.

Hamilton, 39, holds most major F1 career records, including race wins (103), poles (104) and podium finishes (197).

While Hamilton has not won a race since the 2021 season, there is excitement surrounding his future since he is set to join Ferrari for the 2025 season after finishing his final year with Mercedes in 2024.

The 26-year-old Leclerc has been on the precipice of breaking out and winning a points title for quite some time, as he has finished eighth or better in the standings in each of the past five seasons.

A five-time race winner, Leclerc finished a career-best second in the standings in 2022, and he is third so far this season.

Norris, 24, has yet to win an F1 race, but it is likely only a matter of time for the Brit, who has never finished worse than 11 in the points standings since 2019.

He is fifth in the standings this season after matching his career-best finish of sixth last year, and Norris has finished eighth or better in every race so far this season.

EA Sports announced that F1 24 is available for pre-order, and it will officially release for PC, PlayStation and Xbox consoles on May 31.

Max Verstappen's dominant reign atop Formula 1 isn't ending anytime soon.

The defending F1 champion scored his third win in four races in Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix, defeating Sergio Pérez by more than 12 seconds.

The race was delayed by more than 30 minutes after Alex Albon and Daniel Ricciardo crashed on the first lap, and Verstappen said his car's ability to handle to restart propelled him to the win.

"It was very nice. The critical bit was the start to stay ahead and after that the car got better and better for me throughout the race, I don't know if it had to do with the clouds coming in," Verstappen told reporters.

"Everything went well—pit stops, strategy. It couldn't have been any better. The last race was a little hiccup the last race but very happy we are here back on top. Great fans and in front of Honda as well, it's fantastic to win here."

There are now only two drivers in F1 history who have won the Japanese GP three years in a row:

• Max Verstappen (2022-2024)
• Michael Schumacher (2000-2002) pic.twitter.com/545TyJ9RFU

— Daniel Valente 🏎️ (@F1GuyDan) April 7, 2024

Verstappen was coming off a shocking retirement in last month's Australian Grand Prix, which snapped a nine-race winning streak that dated back to the 2023 season. He's already established a 13-point lead in the standings through four races this year, with Pérez, his Red Bull teammate, trailing behind.

Barring some unforeseen change, Verstappen should continue his dominant run atop the sport and earn his fourth straight F1 championship. If he pulls off a fourth straight title, he would become the fifth driver in F1 history to achieve the feat and just the sixth with four championships overall.

Lewis Hamilton, whose era of dominance preceded Verstappen's, continues to struggle in his final season with Mercedes. He finished ninth in Sunday's race and does not have a single finish better than seventh four races into the 2024 season.

Joey Gase went to extreme measures to let Dawson Cram know he wasn't happy about being turned around and sent into the wall at Richmond Raceway.

After Cram wrecked Gase's vehicle, Gase ripped the bumper off his car and threw it at Cram's car in a clear moment of frustration:

Joey Gase THREW HIS BUMPER at Dawson Cram! 😳

🎥 : @NASCAR_Xfinity pic.twitter.com/FE5p6tzuA1

— NASCAR on NBC (@NASCARonNBC) March 30, 2024

"I think him just not having his head screwed on right," Gase said on FS1 (h/t On3.com). "You know, I gave the kid his first opportunity ever in Xfinity, and I know [team owner] Johnny Davis is in the business of wrecking race cars, and we're definitely not. We're a small team and racing hard for the lucky dog, and apparently he just didn't know how to lift. Maybe his throttle stuck, I don't know."

Gase reiterated his displeasure with how things played out with a post on X:

Thanks @dawsoncram41 , hope you appreciate your souvenir pic.twitter.com/RryAHA6nFA

— Joey Gase Racing (@JoeyGaseRacing) March 30, 2024

NASCAR will review Gase's bumper throw and plans "to have a conversation with him about it," according to Jonathan Fjeld of KOB4. It's unclear if he'll face any punishment.

NASCAR confirmed they will review Joey Gase's bumper cover throw this week and plan to have a conversation with him about it.

Xfinity Rulebook Section 8.3.5. is relevant here. It specifies what a driver can/can't do after they get out of the car following an incident. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/IPovirqjVB

— Jonathan Fjeld (@Jonathan_Fjeld) March 30, 2024

Cram, who races for JD Motorsports, previously raced for Emerling-Gase Motorsports, which was co-owned by Gase and Patrick Emerling, who joined the team in 2021.

Emerling left Gase's team this year, which is why it is now known solely as Joey Gase Motorsports.

Prior to Saturday's race at Richmond, Gase had competed in just two races this season. He finished 29th at Atlanta Motor Speedway and 30th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Gase, who competes part-time in the Xfinity Series, has been splitting driving duties with Frankie Muniz, who has made limited starts for Gase's team this year.

Meanwhile, Cram's best finish this season came at Phoenix Raceway earlier this month when he finished 28th. He has never won a race in his career nor finished in the top 10.

The Xfinity Series will head to Martinsville Speedway in Virginia next weekend.