Last Lap Lando.

Brett Gustafson
May 8, 2024
5 min read

It’s kind of a strange thought but to be honest I can only think of a handful of times where I have felt genuine happiness for an athlete and their accomplishments. I mean you feel good for people all the time but genuine happiness towards athlete because you know how hard they have worked to get to a point in their career. Now that’s rare. The first person that comes to mind is Sergio Garcia when he finally broke through at The Masters back 2017 and captured that elusive major title that he had been chasing since he was a young energetic teenager going toe to toe with Tiger for the 1999 PGA Championship at Medinah. Speaking of Tiger, he is also one of those people as well. Now I know what you're thinking, “but Brett he’s a billionaire who cheated on his life 100 times…” Well, that’s a true statement but doesn’t that make it such a better story when he pulled off the greatest sports comeback in history by winning the 2019 Masters tournament after countless scandals, countless back surgeries and a car accident that almost took his life if it wasn’t for a top safety pick Genesis GV80 SUV. For some reason I couldn’t help but feel great for that man. It actually brought a small tear to my eye when I saw him hug his son behind 18 green. I think it resonates differently with Tiger because we are all human and we all make mistakes even Tiger despite his name and his larger-than-life persona. But, to see someone overcome all that it’s pretty darn neat to say the least.

Golf isn’t the only place where I feel genuine joy for athletes, the world of football has all sorts of incredible stories of battling through the hills and valleys to reach the mountain top. But Matt Stafford is the one that comes to mind, after everything he went through in Detroit, from constant injuries, horrible offensive lines and The Lions franchise being… Well… The Lions franchise. To see him finally lift The Lombardi Trophy for the Rams back in 2021 sent shivers down my spine. Even though it wasn’t for the Lions he deserved it. No quarterback tried harder to carry a franchise to the championship in Detroit than Matt and it was great to see that gray bearded broken body finally rewarded for his efforts. Lastly, I can’t forget about when John Daly's son John Daly II signed an NIL deal with Hooters. How could you not feel great for that kid, piggy backing off his dad’s success from his Happy Gilmore lifestyle. The only thing I’m surprised by is that it wasn’t Marlboro or Miller Lite…

On Sunday one of those rare moments of joy felt towards an athlete happened again down in Miami but it came in the unlikely form of a 5’8” F1 driver with curly hair and an intoxicating smile from the Art metropolis of Bristol, United Kingdom. After 110 attempts and 16 podium finishes, Lando Norris got his first career Formula 1 victory at the Miami Grand Prix. On a track he has said he doesn’t like very much. Well, I bet it’s his new favorite track now… Lando spent most of his day on Sunday battling for a top 5 position. That was until everyone pitted but Lando. The #4 orange and black Google Chrome McLaren stayed out on track to take over the lead and as luck would have it on lap 28 the HAAS of Kevin Magnussen and The Williams of Logan Sargeant decided to bump uglies in turn 3 causing both cars to go twirling into the wall, bringing out the Grand Prix’s first and final safety car of the day. That accident gave Lando the opportunity to pit under the safety car which afforded him the ability to maintain the lead headed into the restart.

After the HAAS and Williams got carried off the track by a grizzly little thing named Fork Lift, the racing began again and Lando took full advantage of the clean air by blocking the dominant Max Verstappen’s charging Red Bull into turn 1. After that block Lando was gone like a giraffe’s neck from its torsos. He jumped out to a 3 second lead by lap 40. But, suddenly on that same lap Max Verstappen’s staticky team radio filled with these worrying words, “I can’t get the car to turn, it’s a disaster.” It was at this point that my brain started to comprehend the fact that, “Oh, Bleep… this might actually happen for one of the sports good guys and best drivers without a win, Lando Norris.” I just kept thinking man Lap 57 couldn’t come fast enough for the British driver.

When Lap 57 finally arrived (which felt like an eternity) and there was no Red Bull within 7 seconds, the camera panned to an orange and black McLaren sprinting down the final few corners at The Miami Grand Prix. That’s when Alex Jacques open his mic and spoke these few words with elegance, “It’s a landmark day for Lando!” Lando then came on the radio letting out the most exulted celebration that you could ever hear over the airwaves. “Woooooooooo! Woooooo! About ******* Time! I love you all! I love you all! We Did It Will, We Did It!!!” Lando screamed out over his team’s radio as he was making his rounds around the track waving to all his fans in the stands. But something else peculiar happened while he was making his victory lap…

Every driver on the grid seemed to drive right up next to Lando’s McLaren and give him a giant thumbs up and started clapping their hands in congratulations for the young British driver. If you don’t think this is a worthy champion for a Grand Prix, then you should talk to his fellow drivers. When all your peers almost crash into trying to give you congratulations then you must be worthy in my eyes. The praise didn’t stop there. Driver, Team radios filled with compliments for Lando on his first win. None of which were happier for Lando than his fellow British driver and 7-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Once he heard Lando had won he let out an exhausted but enthusiastic, “Woo! Amazing, well done to Norris, well done.”

Carlos Sainz, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, George Russell, Daniel Ricciardo all walked over and gave Lando a big sweaty hug after the race just knowing how hard he had worked for this and how much he deserves this win. After all the dust had settled and “God Save The Queen” stopped playing over the loudspeakers, A shower of Ferrari champagne rained down on Lando and his team from his fellow podium finishing companions Max and Charles. But through all the bubbles and suds you could still see a white toothed smiling Lando not being able to contain his genuine joy for his first ever Formula 1 Win! Man, you have to feel good for that young man, he is one of the sports best and he finally has a trophy to go along with all that admiration. I think the Pit Stop Boys said it best though, in their hit single “Let’s Go Lando…”