Lando Norris made feelings clear at British GP as Lewis Hamilton questioned him
Much has changed since Lewis Hamilton questioned Lando Norris' decision-making at last year's British Grand Prix. July 2024 was a historic occasion for Hamilton, as he shocked the F1 world by roaring to victory at Silverstone for the ninth time.
It was Hamilton's first GP triumph since the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP. While the story of the wet and rainy weekend was centred around the seven-time F1 world champion, Norris' decision to turn down new medium ties and persist with his soft tires was also a huge talking point.
While Hamilton held onto his lead to win the GP, Max Verstappen managed to overtake the McLaren ace and take P2. After the race, Norris held his hands up and said that he made the wrong decision.
To make matters worse, Hamilton approached his fellow Brit and told him to his face that he made the wrong choice. While in the cooldown room, Hamilton asked: "[Were] you on soft as well?"
When Norris confirmed that he was, Hamilton replied: "But you had two new mediums," before adding: "Yeah, you could have gone to the medium. A new medium would have been faster probably.'
In the final stint of the race when the track was getting drier, Verstappen chose to use hard tires. At the time, Hamilton and Norris were both using softs, except the McLaren ace could have moved onto mediums.
While Hamilton was able to persevere and hold onto first position, Norris' tires were no match for Verstappen's extra pace and acceleration, something the McLaren ace publicly admitted at the end of the GP. He said: "That crucial decision at the end he just did a better job. Hats off to him and Mercedes so they deserve it. It was tough. It was enjoyable, it was fun battling these guys.
"These tricky conditions are always on a knife edge and you're risking a lot. So many things good, but a few too many let-downs today and as a team I don't think we quite did the job we should have done, or good enough, but still lovely to be on the podium here at Silverstone.
"I'm not making the right decisions. I blame myself today for not making some of the right decisions. I hate it, I hate ending in this position and ever having excuses for not doing a good enough job. We'll come back stronger here next year and try again."
Norris will have the opportunity to avenge this disappointment at Silverstone. He will be one of the favourites heading into the British GP.
At present, the Bristolian is close on the coat tails of McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, who has a 15-point lead. With Verstappen trailing the Brit by 46-points, this year's battle appears to be a two-horse race.
However, a confident Hamilton may be eyeing his favourite GP as an opportunity to not only get onto the podium on a Sunday GP for the first time at Ferrari, but to also win it. At the Austrian GP, Hamilton finished fourth, his joint-best GP finish with the Scuderia.
Hamilton was confident speaking to reporters on the eve of the action at Silverstone. The 40-year-old said: "I'm just hoping for a strong weekend. I've not had a podium yet, this would be a really special place in order to have that so I'm really counting on the amazing support we have here to hopefully make the difference."
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