Norris digs at Hamilton: ‘Try racing in 19th and 20th, never done that'

For the second straight race, Norris claimed runner-up spot behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in his much-improved McLaren at the Hungarian Grand Prix, while Hamilton finished fourth after enduring a nightmare first lap. 

The 23-year-old Briton pointed out that the seven-time world champion doesn’t know what it is like to race at the back of the field as he cited McLaren’s struggles at the start of the season. 

“Yesterday [Saturday], Lewis complained of how tough it was finishing outside first position,” Norris said in the post-race press conference. 

“Try racing in 19th and 20th. He’s never done that in his life. So that's the only thing that Lewis hasn't done in Formula 1.”

Norris made another offhanded comment about Hamilton when he insisted that McLaren’s car is not faster than the Mercedes, despite the fact he and Oscar Piastri kept Hamilton at bay in the early stages. 

“Mercedes were on pole here last year, and their car has been pretty good,” he said. 

“I know Lewis complains a lot of how amazing our car is and how bad theirs is, but they don't have a bad car. 

“And they haven't all season…”

Norris also suggested Hamilton and Mercedes ultimately didn’t maximise their performance at the Hungaroring following Hamilton’s bad start which saw him drop from first to fourth in the space of three corners. 

"Lewis stayed ahead [at the first corner], which was frustrating," he said. "But then I managed to stay on the outside.

"I was a bit surprised, I would have thought he'd run me a bit wider, but he didn't. It was close, I'm sure he was still trying, but it's very easy to lock up into Turn 2.

"And it worked out, so I think that saved our race today. If I didn't get past Lewis there, I don't think I would have overtaken him today because their race pace was very strong.

"Their general pace was very strong, I just think they didn't execute a very good race, and that overtake made me get a podium.”