Max Verstappen was relieved to see Donald Trump at the Miami Grand Prix because 'everyone looks' at the former US president - instead of himself!

Trump was in attendance on Sunday as Lando Norris secured victory, with Verstappen finishing second and Charles Leclerc in third.

The former US president was happy to pose for pictures in the paddock, despite his ongoing trial.

And Verstappen has joked he was happy to see Trump because it meant the focus was on the 77-year-old, rather than himself.

"It's good because everyone looks at him, and then they don't bother me!" he admitted.

Norris was seen being congratulated by Trump after winning the race in Miami.

And the McLaren star claimed in the aftermath of his triumph that Trump had told him he was his 'lucky charm'.

“I didn’t see him (Trump) in the garage ahead of the race because I was busy preparing," said the 24-year-old.

"But he came and saw me after to congratulate me.

“He said he was my lucky charm because it was my first win so I don’t know if he’s going to come to more races now.

“Donald is someone you have to have respect for in many ways, and I guess it was an honour for him to come up to me and to take the time out of his life to acknowledge what I’ve done. It was a cool moment.”

Norris also admitted he was always confident he'd win a race one day.

“I never lost the faith," he said.

"I never lost the belief that I could go out there and do it.

“I go on Instagram and I like all the comments of people abusing me. I love it.

"More than anything, it makes me smile – especially (the meme) ‘Lando No-wins’.

“So to prove those people wrong and to prove to people that didn’t think I could go out and do it, and then go out and do it, has put an even bigger smile on my face. I thank all of them.”

He continued: “I said at the beginning of the year we could win a race and lot of people doubted that.

“I am not sure I would have won today without the upgrades and without the hard work that the team has been putting in.

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"But I would like to say it’s the start.

“Now I’m already hungry for more. We’ll keep our heads down, we’ll keep pushing, and I’m sure we can be here a lot more often.”

Meanwhile, regarding Verstappen, the Red Bull star will be looking to win when the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on May 19.

Yet while the 26-year-old was unable to win, Christian Horner was still satisfied with his performance in America.

"He hit the bollard around Lap 20 and that's actually done quite a lot of damage to the underside of the car," he told Sky Sports.

"So we'll have to look at exactly what the effects of that was.

"But he had enough pace at that point, he was pulling clear of Oscar [Piastri] behind and Lando before he picked up that damage and then, obviously, thereafter we then pitted.

"And yeah, the safety car came out at the best time for Lando, which gave him essentially a free stop.

"But, obviously, not great for us because then you're on tyres six or seven laps older.

"And with the damage, I think that actually second place was actually still a pretty decent result.

"He lost two and a half tenths every lap in turn one. Now whether that was because of the damage, I think when you actually see the pictures of what was missing it wasn't designed like that."