‘Lando Norris’ instant regret as he calls Lewis Hamilton an eight-time World Champion’
McLaren driver Lando Norris at a press conference during pre-season testing. Bahrain February 2023.
Lando Norris made a little error while live-streaming on Twitch recently, and knew he had done so immediately…
Lewis Hamilton may be on a long quest to score a record-breaking eighth World Championship but, in some people’s minds at least, the British driver has already secured that accolade.
With Hamilton having lost out on the 2021 title due to controversial racing conditions provided by the decision-making of then-FIA Race Director Michael Masi, there have been accidental referrals to the Mercedes driver being an eight-time Champion from within the racing world.
Christian Horner, team boss of Red Bull, was one to make such an error last year, before correcting himself saying he’d ‘forgotten Nico Rosberg had won one!’, while Norris has become the latest of Hamilton’s F1 colleagues to slip up.
“This one here? That’s from when Lewis won his eighth World Champ…” Norris said, before freezing like a deer caught in the headlights, as he took to his Twitch channel for one of his regular live-streams. The McLaren driver had been showcasing his accumulated helmet collection for the benefit of his viewers.
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Realising what he had said, Norris ducked out of view of the camera for some 20 seconds before re-surfacing to show himself in the depths of laughter.
Norris’ faux pas comes shortly after a Mercedes sponsor made a similar ‘error’ during a promotional event.
In the run-up to the Australian Grand Prix, Hamilton was a guest at the Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) – Petronas being a long-time title sponsor for the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
Hamilton received a warm welcome as he was introduced onto the stage, but the person making that introduction made the same error Norris made.
The event host excitedly said: “UTP, could you please put your hands together and your phones down for eight-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton”. Given Petronas’ position, the slip-up may not be quite as innocent as Norris’…
