An awkward exchange in the cooling room after the Hungarian Grand Prix has drawn attention to Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris, with the two drivers appearing to collide after a dramatic race.
The exchange came after Norris’ McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri took his first Grand Prix win after numerous altercations between Papaya’s teammates. The Australian driver led the race almost from the start, executing a perfect overtake at Turn 1 on the first lap. The strategic interaction that followed saw Norris temporarily lead the race due to a planned undercut by the team before complying with team orders towards the end of the race to allow Piastri to retake the lead and secure the win.
After the race, the mood in the cooling room was electric. Hamilton, impressed by his former team’s performance, congratulated the drivers:
“Phew, you’re fast,” to which Norris responded with a pointed reference to Hamilton’s past advantage, saying: “You had a fast car seven years ago…”
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The seven-time champion replied: “Seven years ago? A long time ago. Were you here seven years ago?”
“Yeah, well, you had a fast car, you made the most of it, and now it’s us,” Norris replied.
Hamilton later clarified his remarks, ensuring that Norris understood the compliment addressed to McLaren’s performance:
“I wasn’t complaining, I was just complimenting your car.”
Norris had to make a difficult choice late in the race when his team asked him to give up his position to Oscar. Although he didn’t seem ready to follow the team’s instructions, he eventually slowed down to allow his teammate to pass him.
“It depends. I mean, I’ve been doing this for… I don’t know,” Norris said after the race, via PlanetF1. “I think I was put in that situation and it’s not my fault that I was leading the race in a way. It’s just that the team should have boxed Oscar first and we wouldn’t have even had this discussion.”
Despite the harsh criticism, Norris did not hesitate to praise Piastri’s performance:
“This guy here [Piastri] “He deserved to win today. He did an incredible job. He got me going and it’s a very special feeling, to win your first race and I say first race because I think you’ll agree that it’s his first race win and not a Sprint race. So yeah, I’m going to let him enjoy it for us as a team, and to get this win is an incredible weekend for all of us.”
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
