Lewis Hamilton ‘didn’t deserve Silverstone podium’ hints Brit F1 rival Lando Norris as he says ‘it’s a shame’
FORMULA ONE star Lando Norris has hinted that Lewis Hamilton did NOT deserve a podium finish at Silverstone.
Max Verstappen steamed to glory at the British GP yesterday, increasing his dominant lead at the top of the table.
McLaren F1 star Norris picked up an impressive second-place finish in front of his home crowd.
And fellow Brit Hamilton raced into third for Mercedes.
However, Norris reckons Hamilton only made the podium at the expense of McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri.
He had been on course for third before the timing of a safety car gave Hamilton a cheap pit stop.
It saw Piastri end up finishing fourth at Silverstone.
And Norris believes it should have been Piastri, not Hamilton, joining him on the podium.
Norris, while nodding in Hamilton’s direction, said: “I feel for him (Piastri), to be honest. He should be sitting here, if things went to plan and there wasn’t a safety car.
“So it’s a bit of a shame – he deserves his first podium in F1 and it would have been amazing for us as McLaren, celebrating our 60th anniversary with the chrome livery.
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“To share it would have been pretty special. He deserved it, he’s been on top form all weekend.
“He’s been pushing me an insane amount which is a good thing because it raises the level of what we do as a team.
“But all year he’s been good, it’s not like he’s just turned up here and been strong. He’s been good since day one in the car and makes my life tough sometimes.
“I don’t always like it but it’s a good thing at the end of the day and makes me a better driver too.
“I feel for him and the team, we did everything we should have done to be P2 and P3 so it’s a shame he’s not sat here too.
“He’ll have his chance, because he’s driving very well and doing a good job.
“If we can improve the car a little bit more we can be here a lot more often and I’m sure he’s going to have his fair few times of being here too.”
Piastri also expressed his disappointment at narrowly missing out on a podium finish.
He added: “It hurts a little bit to be P4 when we were looking on for a podium for so long.
“Bit unlucky with the safety car timing, but I’m just so happy that I’m disappointed with fourth place instead of what we’ve been disappointed with earlier in the season.”