McLaren's Lando Norris stunned champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull to take his first-ever Formula One win at the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday.
"About time huh?! What a race. It's been a long time coming, at last I've been able to do it for my team and deliver for them," the race winner said.
Norris had a stunning restart and defended well against Verstappen after a safety car phase. The Dutchman had to settle for an unusual second place, more than seven seconds behind Norris, while Charles Leclerc of Ferrari completed the podium in third.
"You win, you lose, we are all used to that in racing. Today was just tricky," Verstappen said.
"I'm happy for Lando, it's been a long time coming and it's not going to be his last one. He deserves it today."
Norris last single-seater victory came in the 2018 Formula Two season-opener in Bahrain and he got close to his first F1 victory at the Russian Grand Prix in 2021.
He led the majority of the race, but lost the chance to win in a dramatic fashion as he refused to switch to intermediate tyres amidst worsening rainy conditions and against the advice of his engineers. He finished that race in seventh.
For McLaren, it was their first win since Monza 2021, when Daniel Ricciardo hit the top step.
"It was a long race, the whole weekend has been good with some little setbacks along the way," Norris said.
"I knew on Friday we had the pace. Today we managed to put it together. We had the perfect strategy. What do I say to [McLaren]? I've made a lot of mistakes along the way but today we put it all together and it's for them," he added.
Verstappen had a perfect start from pole position, while Leclerc in second lost positions to team-mate Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull.
But Perez locked up, wide and took Sainz with him. That allowed Leclerc to recover second place.
In lap 22, Verstappen ran off the track and hit a bollard at the Turn 14-15 chicane. The object bounced over his cockpit and onto the track, triggering a virtual safety car for a short period, after which Verstappen pitted and returned to the track in fourth.
The Dutchman had already made his way to second behind Norris, who was yet to stop, when the safety car was deployed after Logan Sargeant of Williams had his home race ended following a crash with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen.
Norris wasn't able to get to the pits before the safety car was called and went around for another lap, pitting under safety car and retaining his lead.
The English driver then had a fantastic restart to break clear from Verstappen. He kept stretching his advantage over the Red Bull man, who failed to have an answer.
Sainz and Perez were fourth and fifth respectively, followed by the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and Yuki Tsunoda of Visa RB. George Russell in the second Mercedes, Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin and Alpine's Esteban Ocon completed the top 10.
Verstappen had won four of the previous five races and tops the drivers' standings as he chases a fourth consecutive title. He will try to restore the status quo at the Emilia Romagna GP in Italy on May 19.