feature-image

Imago

feature-image

Imago

Mercedes and McLaren have both taken a step backward in the past couple of seasons—with Mercedes no longer at the front of the field and McLaren no longer at the front of the midfield. Even so, the Formula 1 community has gotten to witness its fair share of Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris’ intense on-track battles. And the Austrian GP delivered the first one this season between the British compatriots, with Norris coming out on top.

Terrell Owens holding Dude Wipes XL

Being the competitor he is, Hamilton had nothing but good things to say about Norris after the race. While talking to the media, he said, “McLaren, well Lando, did a great job today, they were super quick, wasn’t expecting them to be as fast as they were but we weren’t expecting to be as slow as we were so…” The W14 wasn’t in its best form, and Norris—in his upgraded McLaren—beating Hamilton added to Mercedes’ concerns. But while Lewis praised the younger Brit, Lando took a dig at Lewis.

Watch What’s Trending Now!

ADVERTISEMENT

Lando Norris became Lewis Hamilton’s personal steward 

Norris started the race in fourth but got overtaken by Hamilton in P5 going into Turn 1. And until the first round of pitstops, it stayed that way. While it might sound straightforward, it was by no means so. The two pushed each other throughout that time while also testing the track’s limits—Hamilton more so than Norris. And Norris didn’t miss an opportunity to report Hamilton’s trips outside the white lines of the track.

ADVERTISEMENT

Talking to the media after the race, he said, “I was giving commentary on every single corner of Lewis going off. Literally, he was going off in every corner. I reckon he went off five times in one lap, so that’s like a penalty straight away.” After Lando’s continued reports to his team, the FIA started doling out five-second penalties one after the other, Hamilton being the first domino. He added, “He went off at least 20 times. Every corner for three laps, I was like ‘off,’ ‘off,’ ‘off.’”

Read More: “How Much Did You Pay FIA?”: Fans Slam McLaren as “Shameful” Social Media Antics Mask Lando Norris’ Crimes

ADVERTISEMENT

Lando further explained that carrying even a little extra pace through corners can add up to a considerable advantage, which was part of the reason he was finding it so difficult to overtake Lewis. But when he heard that Hamilton got only one five-second penalty, he exclaimed that it should’ve been way more than that. His proclamation came true.

Lewis Hamilton and others suffered more consequences for exceeding track limits post-race

ADVERTISEMENT

After the race, Aston Martin lodged a protest against the provisional classification, stating that many drivers weren’t sufficiently penalized. The FIA reviewed the race footage and handed post-race penalties to eight drivers, shaking up the finishing order. One of them was Lewis Hamilton, who crossed the line in P7 but got demoted to P8 after a 10-second post-race penalty. 

View this post on Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

But the driver who this affected the most was Carlos Sainz. The Ferrari driver finished in P4 ahead of Norris in P5. But the Spaniard also received a 10-second penalty, demoting him to P6 behind Norris and Alonso. Given how the race and post-race penalties worked in Norris’ favor, he would’ve been pleased with them.

Watch This Story: Lando Norris’s Innocent Mistake in Referring to Lewis Hamilton May not Please Max Verstappen & Red Bull

ADVERTISEMENT

Do you think Hamilton deserved the 10-second penalty post-race?

Share this with a friend:

Link Copied!

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Written by

author-image

Aditi Krishnan

757 Articles

As a Newsroom Editor at EssentiallySports, Aditi Krishnan analyzes reader behavior and enhances copies for global sporting events. Her biggest win on the desk saw her infuse a balance of storytelling, emotion, and reporting into an Olympics article that witnessed a 41-second increase in session duration. Apart from learning a little more about the sports world every day, she also provides feedback to divisional editors, which they implement in their processes. Her degree in Mass Communication enabled her to forge a path in sports journalism, where she filed over 700 copies as a motorsport journalist. To this day, she cherishes her time on the desk during the 2023 Singapore GP. When Aditi is not working, she loves pursuing her myriad interests in playing sports, sketching, baking, reading books, and listening to music.

Know more

Edited by

editor-image

Varunkumaar Chelladurai

ADVERTISEMENT