UNITED KINGDOM: Young McLaren F1 driver Lando Norris while answering questions from British GQ, said he would beat Lewis Hamilton in the same car. When asked whether we would beat the Mercedes driver, who is arguably the greatest driver of all time in Formula 1 history, he said, “There’s a tough question. I’ve got to say yes.”
He felt that it wouldn’t be easy as he believes Lewis Hamilton is one of the greatest. “Lewis is one of the greatest ever, but if you want to do well, you’ve got to believe you’re better than the rest,” he added.
The two British drivers have had mutual respect over the years. Lewis Hamilton, in particular, had called Lando Norris “a great driver” over the radio as the duo battled away in the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton had also supported young Lando over social media last year after the youngster’s lap time in qualifying for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which had propped him up to the 4th position, was deleted. Lando Norris started from 9th in the race.
Lewis Hamilton had to cope with a tumultuous 2022 season after the Mercedes car for the season; the notorious W13 has been way off the pace of the leading teams. The draggy nature of the car combined with the uncomfortable bouncing gave a hard time to the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
The experienced campaigner drove with experimental setups and a multitude of sensors in the early stages of the season to find the solutions for the various problems of the car, as a result of which he often ended up getting outscored by George Russell, who is currently on track to beat him in the driver’s standings. The 37-year-old has been beaten by his team-mate only twice so far in his illustrious career.
Lando Norris had infamously lost out on his maiden Formula 1 victory in Sochi last year as he stayed out on dry weather tyres even as everyone else pitted for the intermediates after the heavens opened up towards the ending stages of the race. Lewis Hamilton passed the sliding McLaren of Lando Norris as he notched up a historic 100th Formula 1 career victory.
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