Norris Addresses Hamilton's Response To McLaren's Verstappen Criticism

Thursday, 04 July 2024 at 18:00

Lando Norris addressed Lewis Hamilton's comments on the claim that Max Verstappen's racing style is the result of unresolved issues from the past battle with the seven-time World Champion.

Following the 11th round of the 2024 season- the Austrian Grand Prix, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella spoke out against Red Bull and Max Verstappen's actions on track.

The 53-year-old suggested that it was overly aggressive Max Verstappen who caused the collision, that the whole world could see it, and that we have incidents like this because they weren't addressed properly in the past (2021) when he was fighting Lewis Hamilton. He said:

"The problem behind it is that if you don't address these things honestly, they will come back."

"They have come back today because they were not addressed properly in the past when there were some fights with Lewis that needed to be punished in a harsher way."

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Hamilton's and Norris's response

The seven-time World Champion was approached with Stella's statements during the FIA press conference ahead of the 2024 British Grand Prix and asked whether he agreed, to which he responded: "I don't agree with that, no."

The 39-year-old Mercedes driver also refused to comment on anything else relating to the incident between Norris and Verstappen as he didn't want to be dragged into the conversation.

Reacting to Hamilton's statement that he didn't agree with the statements made by the McLaren team principal, Lando Norris suggested the Briton might have looked at it differently a few years ago.

"I'm sure Lewis would agree with it two years ago or three years ago, 100 percent. There were definitely certain things, there were definitely a few moments, especially."

Although the 24-year-old retracted his previous comments about the incident during the press conference, he still stood by his team principal's suggestions.

"On the whole, I'm always going to stand up for what Andrea said. I think Andrea's got a very good amount of sensibility with how he talks and things he talks about. So definitely, I think certain parts are true, and I do agree with Andrea as a note."