McLaren driver Lando Norris has apologised for comments he made after Sunday’s Portuguese Grand Prix in which he appeared to play down Lewis Hamilton’s recent achievements.
Hamilton broke Michael Schumacher’s record for the most career victories on Sunday by taking his 92nd victory in Formula One.
Norris, who finished 13th after a collision with Lance Stroll, was asked about the achievement after the race and suggested Hamilton has had it easy because of the dominance of his car.
« I’m just happy for him, nothing more, » he said.
« It doesn’t mean anything to me, really. He’s in a car which should win every race, basically.
« He has to beat one or two other drivers, that’s it. Fair play to him, he’s still doing the job he has to do. »
I owe an apology. I’ve been stupid and careless with some things I’ve said lately in media and interviews, and haven’t shown the respect I should have to certain people. I’m not that kind of person, so know I should apologise to them but also everyone reading/listening. Sorry
— Lando Norris (@LandoNorris) October 27, 2020
Although the quotes were not widely reported, Norris issued an apology via Twitter.
« I owe an apology, » he said. « I’ve been stupid and careless with some things I’ve said lately in media and interviews, and haven’t shown the respect I should have to certain people.
« I’m not that kind of person, so know I should apologise to them but also everyone reading/listening. Sorry »
Norris had previously apologised for using expletives during a radio message following his incident with Stroll.
After the race he added that Stroll « doesn’t seem to learn from anything he does », but it is not clear if his Twitter apology was also in reference to that quote.
The stewards penalised Stroll for the incident and took no further action against Norris.
https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/30200673/norris-apologises-comments-hamilton
