There are times when you might think something and other times when you might say something. The first is often referred to as your “inside voice” while the other is, well, your “outside voice”. Hilarity ensues when you use one of these voices in the wrong context.
What happens when your inside voice says that the cake your friend just made is very dry and doesn’t taste that good but you unfortunately use your outside voice instead? You get the point…it’s a real hoot and is sure to eventually create ruffled feathers.
That’s what happened to young Lando Norris when asked about the Portuguese GP weekend. In fact, Lando was using his outside voice a lot when it may have been better to have used his inside voice.
When asked about the incident with Lance Stroll:
“He obviously didn’t learn from Friday, but he doesn’t seem to learn with anything he does. “It happens a lot, so I just need to make sure I stay away.”
When asked about Lewis Hamilton’s wonderful achievement of 92 wins:
“I’m happy for him, nothing more,” Norris 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, but yeah, just another win for him.”
After those two comments baked in the social media oven on 350 degrees for 24 hours, Lando was forced to walk the statements back.
Lance Stroll Backpedal:
“I apologize for what I said about Lance, I shouldn’t have said the words I did, but just in the moment, I was annoyed,” he said.
Lewis Hamilton backpedal:
“I owe an apology,” Norris wrote. “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 apologize to them but also everyone reading/listening. Sorry.”
At the risk of being controversial, does anyone recall Lewis Hamilton being forced to walk back his comments about Michael Schumacher? What about his comments about Sebstian Vettel as winning because he had the best car and how Lewis wouldn’t want to win titles that way?
A simple Google search will show you just what Lewis thought of Schumacher over the years. It’s not hard to find and it isn’t very “respectful”. One might argue that Schumacher doesn’t deserve respect like Lewis does but surely that’s in the eye of the beholder, right?
Lando should be Lando and he isn’t in F1 to praise Lewis or be gentle with Lance. He’s there to win and that is what made Lewis the force he is, he didn’t care much for Schumacher or Vettel, he was there to win.
I think Lando should think twice about walking back his inside voice because that is who he is and while his outside voice has paid homage to Hamilton, it is his inside voice that reveals the killer instinct and drive that makes Lando a formidable driver in the future. Keep talking Lando, we’re listening and if if ruffles feathers, well, you certainly wouldn’t be the first driver to do so.
I truly do not like how drivers are always forced to be politicaly correct … it’s just a bunch of robots spewing out PR pre-approved crap, not really saying what they mean.
Yeah, in the past, JV was harsh at times and Max has been as well as Lewis or Seb or Senna or whomever. I like Lando and the other young drivers and they should be who they are.
Max is still spewing out diatribe, he did call Lance ‘a retard’ and ‘ a mongol’.
So much for the ‘we race as one’ :-)
Can we also address that Lando Norris just isn’t that good of a driver? He’s obviously good enough to have one of the coveted seats, but compared to George, Leclerc, or Verstappen, his team mate often gets the better of him, doesn’t he?
Well – Lando 65 points, Carlos 59 points. So there’s that…
He’s young yet. He’ll get over it.