Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton had an argument at the Hungarian GP cooldown room that seemingly started with a harmless comment made by the latter. Norris didn’t think Hamilton meant well, which is why the seven-time World Champion had to be assertive about his intentions.
Hamilton was looking at the McLaren cars on the TV screen and said, “Phew, you guys are fast.” Norris, however, snapped back and said, “You had a fast car seven years ago. You had a quick car and now it’s us.”
Hamilton was taken aback by Norris’ response and cut the McLaren driver’s response short. “Seven years ago? long time. Were you here seven years ago? I wasn’t complaining, I was complimenting your car.”
LH: “Phew! You guys are fast”
LN: : “You had a fast car 7 years ago…”
LH: : “7 years ago? long time. Were you here seven years ago?”
LN: “You had a quick car, and now it’s us.”
LH: “I wasn’t complaining, I was complimenting your car.” pic.twitter.com/VsZfPtjdmI
— deni (@fiagirly) July 21, 2024
However, Norris wasn’t in the mood. After the final phase of pitstops at the Hungaroring, the Bristol-born driver inherited the lead of the race. However, he was asked to hand it back to his teammate Oscar Piastri, who was in P1 from the start for the majority of the race. Reluctantly, after a lot of convincing on the team radio, Norris obliged.
Norris finished P2 and this cost him a shot at closing the gap down to Max Verstappen in the standings. Currently, at 76, the difference in points could have been 69 had Norris held on to P1.
Norris explains the difficult decision to let Piastri through
After the race, Norris was more forthcoming in explaining his thought process in the closing stages. He said, “It’s always tough when you’re fighting for a win. And a win means so much to me and also to him. I just had to try and put myself in his shoes.”
Norris did show his superior pace on the track and let Piastri through only on lap 68 (of 70).
Speaking to Nico Rosberg in the post-race interview, Piastri admitted that the situation did make him nervous. But, he also feels that Norris did the right thing.
“I know what Oscar’s done for me in the past… I got told to let him pass and I did. it’s always tough when you’re fighting for a win and a win means so much to me and also to him. I just had to try and put myself in his shoes” pic.twitter.com/gYMsVZSZQL
— Miley (@milclaren) July 21, 2024
The Melbourne-born driver took the lead of the race in lap 1 and would have never lost it had McLaren made the right strategy call. In the end, however, McLaren as a team ended the Hungarian GP happy, as a 1-2 finish brings them even closer to Red Bull in the Constructors’ Standings.
