By Tom Cary, Senior Sports Correspondent, at Silverstone
To his credit Lewis Hamilton took the insult well. “2007? Haha, yeah you’re pretty old,” Lando Norris remarked as they sat together in the post-race press conference. “I was only seven years old then!”
Norris, whose stunning second-place finish in Sunday’s British Grand Prix delighted a record Silverstone crowd of 160,000 fans, had just been asked for his memories of watching Hamilton during the seven-time world champion’s debut season at McLaren way back in 2007.
As the 23-year-old expanded on those recollections, including what he cheekily referred to as the “beautiful teamwork” between Hamilton and his then team-mate and fierce rival Fernando Alonso, and as Hamilton smiled and laughed along, there was a distinct feeling of a changing of the guard.
For years, British Grand Prix crowds have relied on Hamilton to lead the home charge. And he has done a pretty good fist of it – just the eight wins and 14 podium finishes. But with Hamilton now 38, and entering his final few seasons (assuming he does eventually sign that long-awaited contract extension) it is time for new heroes to emerge from his shadow.
Norris’s runner-up finish here, which involved him staving off a concerted attack from Hamilton in the final laps following the removal of a mid-race safety car, was as timely as it was impressive and the crowds clearly loved it, chanting “Lando, Lando” as he conducted his post-race interview in the pitlane.
McLaren’s strong recent form offers real hope that Norris can challenge consistently in the future. And it is not just Norris. There were four British drivers in the top eight with George Russell fifth for Mercedes, and Alex Albon eighth in a Williams, which is starting to look more competitive under the leadership of James Vowles. British race fans can look ahead with real optimism. The battle between Norris and Russell, in particular, should be something to savour over the next decade or more, assuming either or both McLaren and Mercedes can ever get back up to Red Bull’s level.
No wonder Norris was smiling. “This is the best,” he replied without hesitation when asked where this podium finish ranked with his other six, including that second place at Monza in 2021 behind then team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. “This is the most exciting. My first podium [Austria, 2020] was special. You remember them all forever. Well, maybe not when you’ve got as many as Mercedes. [But] hearing everyone chanting, it’s special. Seeing all the fans chanting, seeing all the team.”
It might have been even better. Norris got off to a flyer from P2 on the grid, passing Max Verstappen into Abbey. And while the Dutchman was able to reclaim first spot on lap five, and never looked threatened thereafter, collecting his sixth win on the trot to stretch his lead in the drivers’ championship to a massive 99 points, Norris and McLaren were competitive throughout. Team-mate Oscar Piastri would surely have taken third place had he not been caught out by a safety car which was introduced on lap 33 after Kevin Magnussen’s Haas caught fire.
That safety car period allowed Hamilton, who had not yet stopped, to jump from seventh to third, And when the race resumed on lap 39, the Silverstone crowds were treated to a marvellous battle between the seasoned warrior Hamilton and young pretender Norris for second spot.
Norris had for some reason had been put onto hard tyres for his final stint despite having stated a preference for soft tyres that would not cool as much behind the safety car. And Hamilton nearly took immediate advantage, diving up the inside of Luffield on lap 41 and keeping it there through Woodcote before backing out prior to Copse.
The grandstands roared their approval while simultaneously chewing their fingernails. Eventually, with his tyres sufficiently warmed up, Norris was able to keep Hamilton at a more comfortable distance, impressing the seven-time F1 champion, who told his race engineer in the warmdown lap that Norris’s pace through the high-speed corners had been “insane”.
Hamilton was equally generous in the press conference later on. While Verstappen sat between them looking rather bored – this was, after all, his eighth win in 10 rounds this year and an 11th in a row for Red Bull, matching the all-time record of the McLaren MP4/4 – the two British drivers spoke about their admiration for one another.
“Yeah, he’s very talented naturally as you can see,” Hamilton said of Norris’ racecraft during those final laps. “I think it’s great if you can have close battles like that and rely on the driver you are racing against to be hard but fair. There was never a moment today when it crossed the line.”
Norris looked understandably thrilled at this appraisal. But in what was a very mature press conference, he was also careful to praise his team-mate Piastri, crediting the Australian with having pushed him this year. “It’s raised the level of the whole team,” he admitted. “It makes my life tough sometimes. I haven’t always liked it. But at the end of the day, it’s made me a better driver. It’s a shame he’s not sat here too. He should be.”
Norris was careful, too, to state that McLaren fans should not get too carried away by this result. While the car’s performance through high-speed corners was, he said, “almost on a par with what Red Bull can achieve”, their performance in slow-speed corners was “still pretty terrible”.
Ultimately, though, Norris could not hide his pride and excitement at battling with Hamilton in front of 160,000 raucous fans at his home grand prix, and coming out on top.
“Watching [Hamilton] in 2007/8… that’s genuinely what made me want to become a racing driver today,” he reflected, smiling. “I guess little did I know Lewis would be here 15 years later and still going strong. Fair play to him. It’s special and I guess I want to be someone who can join in on those battles and create some of my own history.”
He is going the right way about it.
As it happened…
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