“Are you? A great driver?”– Max Verstappen to Lando Norris

“Are you? A great driver?”– Max Verstappen jokes about Lando Norris’ driving talent; The McLaren driver plays along with him.

Lando Norris has been giving his career-best performances so far in 2021, with him grabbing over three podiums this year already, the latest being in the Austrian Grand Prix.

He has been so magnificent that even Lewis Hamilton was compelled to say on the radio “Such a great driver, Lando,” when his compatriot overtook him on Sunday.

But Max Verstappen had some evil intentions, during Norris’ post-race interview with the Autosport, he interjected while the Briton was reacting to the praise received by Hamilton.

“Are you? A great driver?”, jokes the Dutchman. “Apparently!”, Norris responded, to which Verstappen replied, “I didn’t know that man!”

Lando Norris left speechless

But when the seriousness restored, Norris insisted that he is humbled by the praise by the seven-time world champion, and talked about how grateful he is to be able to compete at the top.

“Thanks. I don’t know what to say,” Norris is modest. “It wasn’t easy. Both Mercedes were faster in the race, which was no surprise, so I was happy to hold him off for so long. It was the first time I really raced against him and then you really learn how he drives and how he races.”

Norris seems to have a thing with the Austrian GP, as last year in the same venue, he registered his career-first podium (at that P3 too), when F1 returned in action amidst the pandemic.

“It was cool, it’s a good feeling to not only race against Lewis, but also against Valtteri [Bottas], Max and Sergio [Perez]. It gives a good feeling to be in that group and fight for a podium spot. Our pace was just really good.”

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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