Days After Disrespectful Outburst at Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris Forced to Swallow His Pride

Two compatriots racing for rival teams for a shot at finding lost glory. What could go wrong in such a scenario? Absolutely everything. The pair being spoken about is Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton. They have had some good light-hearted moments in interviews. But the fiery and unabashed character that Norris is, he didn’t hold back when it came to taking digs at Hamilton. However, his last outburst at the 7x champ hasn’t aged very well.

Just over a week ago, on ‘Grill the Grid by F1’, had to guess who filled the blank in the following sentence: “If they ever make a ____ biopic, they should call it ‘the tire whisperer.” Before giving a genuine answer, the young Briton took a dig at his fellow country, calling Hamilton the opposite of a ‘tire whisperer’–a jab at his tire management skills.

This outflow of disrespect dished out under the guise of humor came to bite him at the Dutch GP yesterday. Not only was the Mercedes W14 at its very quickest this season, but even the tire degradation was better than Norris’ MCL60. So, he was forced to swallow his pride to concede defeat to the 7-time champion.

“I think the Mercedes was on another level compared to us today,” said Norris, post the Dutch GP. “Their tire deg is always better, they have good front end on the car, and that’s what we probably lacked on a day like today.”

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Admitting that Hamilton and the Silver Arrows had one-upped his team was one thing. But where Norris couldn’t back from letting his frustration show was at his team’s poor decision-making.

Lando Norris fumes at McLaren’s absurd race-destroying decision

The heavens opened in Lap 1 of the Dutch GP. Inters weather hit Zandvoort, and all drivers scrambled into the pits for a tire change. Unexpectedly for Lando Norris, McLaren asked him to stay out on the Softs. Eventually, he had to box for the Inters. When he came back out, he was P12 and out of the points. Yet, he fought hard and finished P7. But that P7 wasn’t a happy one because he started 2nd on the grid. The discontentment towards the Woking outfit that followed was an earful.

“We just lost everything in the beginning with the decision to stay out on the slicks when it was too wet,” Norris said in a post-race interview. “We just lost a lot more than we ever should have done. So that was pretty much not game over, but just that threw everything away that we worked hard for yesterday, so a bit frustrating from that side.”

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‘Sport is a great leveler’ – the instance above is one of the finest examples of why the saying is crafted that way.