Norris ends Miami party to focus on follow-up at Imola

Beaming in the novelty and adulation of his first victory in Formula One, Britain’s Lando Norris was not going to miss a beat in celebrating over the past fortnight. Partying with American sports stars, check.

- KIERAN JACKSON

Two rounds of golf at Augusta National, check. Appearances on ITV’s This Morning and BBC Radio 1, check.

But, ultimately, you’re only as good as your last race. And now the fast-paced, hard-nosed world of F1 has moved on from Miami.

So to this weekend and the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, named after the Italian region where the famous Imola circuit is situated, 28 miles east of Bologna, a year after the event’s cancellation due to heavy flooding. A track where Norris has gone well in the past – podiums in 2021 and 2022 – is a nearideal follow-up from the highest of Florida highs, as F1 heads to Europe for the first time in 2024.

“I celebrated appropriately for the occasion,” the McLaren driver said, at yesterday’s media day. “But it’s now another weekend, I’m prepared and ready to go. I still think about it [Miami] a lot but at the same time, you have to turn your focus to the next weekend and hopefully try and replicate a similar thing.”