Lando Norris apologises to Lewis Hamilton over comments made after his countryman’s record-breaking win
Lando Norris has revealed he sent a message to Lewis Hamilton apologising for the comments he made in the wake of his countryman’s record-breaking win.
Hamilton moved clear of Michael Schumacher’s 91 victories at last weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix.
Speaking after the race, Norris said: “It doesn’t mean anything to me, really. He’s in a car which should win every race. He has to beat one or two other drivers, that’s it.”
But Norris backtracked on his post-race comments, calling them “stupid and careless” in a message posted on social media this week.
Elaborating ahead of this weekend’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, the McLaren driver, competing in his second season in the sport, said: “I sent Lewis a message to apologise. I don’t know if he knew about it at the time, but I never meant to say something like that in a bad way or put any bad light on him at all.
“I respect everything he’s done to achieve what he’s done. It’s incredible no matter what. It’s just the way I put it was not the way I wanted it to come across. I apologised and I’ve just got to move on.”
Hamilton, meanwhile, says he will speak to Formula One chiefs about the prospect of a salary cap which would dent the six-time world champion’s future earnings. In a meeting of the F1 Commission this week, all 10 team principals, including Hamilton’s Mercedes chief Toto Wolff, agreed to splitting both drivers’ wages within the same team to no more than £22 million a year from 2023.
Hamilton, who is out of contract with Mercedes next month, currently earns in the region of £40 million. Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen are also understood to earn above the tabled figure.
Hamilton said he first heard rumblings of the proposed limit to drivers’ pay packets at last summer’s race in France.
“From a driver’s point of view it is a surprise,” Hamilton said. “It is important that the GPDA [Grand Prix Drivers’ Association] work closely with Formula One and get into discussions of how we move forward.”
The concept is subject to ratification, but falls in line with the sport’s vision of drastically reducing costs.
Next season a budget cap will be introduced, where teams must spend no more than £112 million. This will reduce to £108 million in 2022 and £105 million in 2023. Mercedes and Ferrari currently both operate at costs in excess of £300 million a year.
“The discussion around capped driver salaries is a very emotional thing,” Wolff said. “In order to be sustainable and attractive, teams need to show profitability like any other company out there.
“But Formula One drivers are the best drivers in the world and they should earn high salaries like all the other sporting stars.
“It would be interesting to sit on the table with the representatives of the drivers, and the drivers themselves and discuss how can we align ourselves so everybody benefits from long-term growth without harming future earnings for the drivers.”
Hamilton, who holds a 77-point lead over team-mate Valtteri Bottas in the standings as he closes in on a record-equalling seventh world title, has never raced an F1 car around a track synonymous with the death of his childhood hero Ayrton Senna in 1994.
“In one way, it is heart-warming to know that I am here doing what Ayrton loved doing 26 years ago, but it is a harsh reminder of that day, too.”
