Lando Norris mocked Charles Leclerc in the post-race interviews of the Chinese GP. The McLaren driver, who finished second behind teammate Oscar Piastri, joked that the damage to the front wing had helped the Monegasque gain a sort of advantage.
At the start of the Chinese GP, there was contact between Leclerc and Hamilton, with the #16 being the worst off. No problem, however, as the race continued normally, and Leclerc seemed faster than his teammate. The Monegasque crossed the finish line in fifth position ahead of the Briton, but both accumulated more than 20 seconds of delay behind the McLarens.
Did the “mini DRS” potentially help Charles Leclerc? Lando Norris joked about it with his colleagues, the race winner Oscar Piastri, and third-place finisher George Russell.
Commenting on the contact between the two Ferrari drivers, the Mercedes representative said: “Oh my, he really got away well at the start… So Charles raced the whole race with his…”
Norris replied: “Without a front wing. He made it extra flexible, I guess. Probably helped.”
Russell laughed, saying ironically: “Maybe he planned it!”
Regarding their duel, the two also referenced a similar incident between Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello. At the 2010 Hungarian GP, the Kaiser nearly pushed his former Ferrari teammate into the wall.
“It reminded me of Schumacher on Barrichello,” said Norris, as they watched the sequence of his overtaking Russell in turn 1.
“Were you Barrichello?” jokingly replied #63 of Mercedes.
“You almost put me into the wall!” was the reply from the McLaren driver, who is currently leading the championship.
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