Achi news desk-
McLaren have revealed that they have received an application from Donald Trump to visit their garage at the Miami Grand Prix to ‘recognize and respect the office of President of the United States’.
Trump arrived at the F1 Grand Prix in Miami on Sunday with a heavy security presence and was seen in deep conversation with McLaren CEO Zak Brown before the race.
The 45th US president also held talks with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali before posing for photos in front of the McLaren garage.
McLaren had faced criticism for allowing Trump into their paddock but the F1 team say they were ‘honoured’ by his visit.
‘McLaren is a non-political organization however we recognize and respect the office of the President of the United States so when the request was made to visit our garage on race day we accepted alongside the president of the FIA ​​and the CEO of Liberty Media and Formula. 1,’ McLaren said in a statement.
‘We were honored that McLaren Racing was chosen as an F1 representative which gave us the opportunity to showcase the first class engineering we bring to motorsport.’
Earlier this week, the Washington Post reported that Miami’s GP and F1 had stopped Trump associate Steven Witkoff from planning to host a $250,000 ticket fundraiser at his Paddock Club rooftop suite.
‘It has come to our attention that you may be using your Paddock Club Rooftop Suite for a political purpose, namely raising money for a federal election at $250,000. [£199,200] per ticket, which clearly violates the Crypto.com Miami Grand Prix Formula 1 series license agreement,’ read the letter obtained by The Washington Post.
‘If this is the case, we regret to inform you that your suite license will be revoked, you will not be allowed to attend the race at any time, and we will refund you in full.’
McLaren’s Lando Norris ended up winning the race, the Briton’s first ever victory in his F1 career.
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was second, while Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was third.
‘About time! What a grace. It’s been a long time coming. Finally, I’ve managed to do it,’ said Norris, 24, after his first F1 win.
‘I’m so happy for my whole team. I finally delivered for them. Long day, hard race. Finally over, so I love it.
‘The whole weekend has been good. I’ve had some little hiccups along the way but I knew on Friday that we’ve made progress.
‘Just a couple of mistakes here and there. Today we managed to put it together. We made the perfect strategy and it all paid off.”
‘Thanks to McLaren, everyone. I’ll give mum and dad a shout of course.’
For more stories like this, check our sports page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news
Facebook, Tweet and Instagram.
MORE: Fernando Alonso claims Lewis Hamilton escaped punishment ‘because he’s not Spanish’ after Miami sprint crash
MORE : Donald Trump was ‘concerned about Melania hearing a tape of him bragging about women who grope’
MORE: Trump calls London ‘unrecognizable’ and says ‘we can’t let that happen to the US’
