Written by :
Published on :
Lando Norris was chasing his Formula 1 dream Sunday in Silverstone, England.
As an 8-year-old boy, Norris recalled Lewis Hamilton's victory here back in 2008.
On Sunday, Norris got his own win in a thrilling wet British GP — also involving Hamilton — in front of the British crowd.
“I got that picture of him going around and seeing all the fans standing up, that picture of what the atmosphere at Silverstone is like, and dreamed of that for many, many years,” Norris said. “Today I got to live that feeling myself.”
Amid spins, crashes and controversy, Norris held on to win and cut the gap to his teammate and title rival Oscar Piastri.
The payout? $330 for every $100 bet. Norris was the winner.
The British Grand Prix was Gambling911.com's most trafficked event over the last 24 hours with some 6534 impressions, and counting.
Norris started third on the grid, overtook Max Verstappen for second, lost the place again due to a slow pit stop, then saw Verstappen spin out ahead of him. He took the lead after Piastri had to serve a 10-second penalty for sharp braking behind the safety car earlier.
It was McLaren’s first win at Silverstone since that Hamilton victory in 2008. Hamilton went on to win his first title that year. On Sunday, Hamilton finished fourth.
“This is a dream, winning at home. It’s beautiful,” Norris told the team over the radio. “Thanks for the memory. I’ll remember this more than anything.”
He climbed out of the car and celebrated with both arms raised to take in the moment, before hugs with his team and his mother. On the podium, Norris closed his eyes with a smile as the British anthem played.
McLaren ignores Piastri’s request to swap
Piastri finished second behind Norris after the penalty. He asked for the lead back.
The Australian thought the penalty was unfair, arguing it was for a legal move that he and others had done before to slow down the cars behind before speeding off at the restart.
Adding an element of controversy to what’s been an unusually friendly title rivalry, Piastri even suggested that if McLaren thought the call was unfair, the team could ask him and Norris to swap places to cancel the effect of the penalty. The team declined to do so.
Piastri had been leading the pack before a restart from safety car conditions and slowed to back up the cars behind, but did it sharply enough that Max Verstappen behind had to swerve to avoid him.
Once it became clear Piastri would have to serve the penalty at his next pit stop, Norris made sure the Australian couldn’t build a lead to cancel it out. Norris just needed to stay with his teammate and hovered two seconds behind, waiting to inherit the lead.
Piastri now leads Norris by eight points overall, cut from 15. It’s the halfway point of the season, with 12 of 24 races remaining.
- The Associated Press was used for this report
|
|
