Lando Norris caught 'lying' as Brit faces awkward Lewis Hamilton question

Lando Norris was caught out when taking a lie detector test, professing himself as the best British driver on the F1 grid before admitting that the title still belongs to seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.

Norris and Hamilton have battled hard over the last few seasons with Mercedes and McLaren now locked into a battle for P3 in the Drivers’ Championship, although it has not been a happy start to the 2024 campaign for the Silver Arrows’ star driver, who picked up just 19 points from the opening five races.

Despite these struggles, Hamilton’s stock remains high and with a move to Ferrari already set in stone for the 2025 campaign, the legendary Brit may benefit from a fresh start and a change of scenery when he swaps Brackley for Maranello.

In a ‘lie detector’ segment for Sky Sports F1 ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, Norris was asked by Simon Lazenby whether or not he was the best British driver on the grid, ahead of Hamilton and his Mercedes team-mate George Russell.

After some time to think, Norris replied: “Yes,” but this was met with an immediate rejection by the lie detector. “No,” Lazenby hit back. “That was quite quick wasn’t it Russ? I love it when that kind of stuff happens. Who is the best then?” This prompted the McLaren star to begrudgingly reply: “Lewis.”

Unfortunately for Norris and Hamilton, neither enjoyed a strong start to their Miami GP weekends. The former had threatened to challenge Max Verstappen for the sprint pole during the first two parts of sprint qualifying, but a messy opening sector of his final run resigned him to a P9 grid slot.

Hamilton, meanwhile, was eliminated in SQ2 along with fellow Mercedes team-mate Russell. Then, disaster struck as the experienced Brit launched a move up the inside of Fernando Alonso at the race start. The contact also collected Lance Stroll, who subsequently crashed into the side of Norris, who was setting up a move around the outside.

While Norris’ race was ended by that lap-one clash, Hamilton soldiered on. However, the seven-time world champion encountered more trouble as the sprint progressed, clashing multiple times with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen, who picked up three separate 10-second time penalties for his defensive driving.

Then Hamilton picked up a penalty of his own. Following a review from the stewards, he was judged to have been speeding in the pit lane when the cars filtered through under safety car conditions. This decision cost the Mercedes star his hard-earned point, promoting VCARB’s Yuki Tsunoda into the top 10.