Revealed: What Lando Norris said to Lewis Hamilton in cooldown room at Hungarian GP
Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris both appeared on the podium at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
A somewhat awkward exchange took place between Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton in the cooldown room before the podium at the Hungarian Grand Prix, which was caught on camera.
Hamilton had finished third behind Norris, who himself was bemused at being asked to move over for team-mate Oscar Piastri to win his first Grand Prix on Sunday – with the Australian having already led the vast majority of the race before a strategy call went in Norris’ favour, but the cameras picked up a seemingly slightly tense chat between the two Brits after they climbed out of their cockpits on Sunday, which has since been circulated on social media.
Cooldown room exchange between Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris caught before Hungarian GP podium
Hamilton, sat in a chair while Norris entered the room, said to the McLaren driver: “Phew, you guys are fast.”
At that point, Norris responded: “You had a fast car seven years ago…”
Hamilton replied: “Seven years ago? Long time. Were you here seven years ago?”
Norris, who is now in his sixth season in the sport after arriving on the grid in 2019, replied: “Yeah, well, you had a quick car, you made the most of it, and now it’s us.”
Mercedes driver Hamilton, seemingly slightly confused at Norris’ response, then said: “I wasn’t complaining, I was just complimenting your car.”
There's not a lot of 'cooling down' going on here, guys…
A tense first episode of the Oscar Piastri podcast #F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/WvnZVBXo15
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 21, 2024
More from the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend
Revealed: Every message as McLaren desperately pleaded with Lando Norris to obey team orders
Lando Norris’ indecision turns Oscar Piastri pandemonium into sour McLaren moment
The two were finally joined by race winner Piastri, with the three then dissecting the key moments of the afternoon’s race – with high drama having occurred at the Hungaroring on Sunday.
Norris had inherited the lead when McLaren pitted him before his team-mate to ensure he covered off Hamilton behind him, meaning Norris had the undercut on Piastri to take the lead in the final stint.
After multiple team orders to allow the Australian back through, Piastri having led every lap after taking the lead from his McLaren team-mate at Turn 1 on Sunday, Norris eventually relented three laps from the end to hand a maiden win to his colleague.
When asked if he would be more selfish in future, however, he said: “It depends. I mean, I’ve done this for… I don’t know. I think I was put in this situation and it’s not my fault that I was leading the race in a way.
“Simply, the team should have just boxed Oscar first and we wouldn’t even be having this discussion. So, it’s not that. I think just as a team, maybe we could have done things slightly differently and I’m sure we’ll talk about it.
“But at the same time… This guy here [Piastri] deserved to win today. He did an amazing job. He got me off the line and that’s a very special feeling, winning your first race and I say first race because I think you’ll agree that it’s his first race win and not a Sprint race.
“So yeah, I’ll let him enjoy it and for us as a team, and to have the win is an incredible weekend for all of us.”
Read next: Max Verstappen lashes out at critics following tense Hungarian GP: ‘They can all f**k off’
