'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Lando Norris' comments about Lewis Hamilton's complaints after the 2023 F1 Hungarian GP did catch a few by surprise. The McLaren driver has had a very cordial relationship with everyone on the grid and does not tend to take any digs against fellow drivers.
While it was said in a half-joking manner by Norris, it was certainly a dig at Hamitlon. The surprising thing is that this is not the first instance of a fellow driver on the grid calling out Hamilton on something like this which does in essence raise an important question.
Are fellow F1 drivers starting to get bothered by the 'complaints' made by Lewis Hamilton? Let's take a look.
What did Nico Hulkenberg and Lando Norris say?
Now, first of all, let's clarify one thing, neither Nico Hulkenberg nor Lando Norris commented with any malice attached to it.
The comments were just a passing statement made in a light-hearted manner. The content of them was, however, somewhat contentious.
Hulkenberg was recently questioned after the incident in Austria where Toto Wolff came on the radio to tell Lewis Hamilton to drive the car. About the whole incident, Hulkenberg felt that the Mercedes driver had become a bit spoilt by success.
“You’d have to say Lewis was a little spoiled by success. He’s a guy who’s quick to complain these days,” he said.
Lando Norris' comments about Lewis Hamilton came unprovoked and maybe that is why they surprised a lot more people. Norris mentioned how Hamilton 'complains about McLaren being fast' and that Mercedes had never been a slow car.
He also touched on Hamilton's comments where the Mercedes driver had claimed about how tough it had been to not be in pole position for this long, even though Mercedes had been a consistent podium contender last season and secured a win as well.
The argument for and against Lewis Hamilton's complaints
Does Lewis Hamilton complain too much? The answer to this is a subjective one. On one side, you will have Hamilton fans claiming that this is not the case while on the other side of the spectrum, the critics will point out specific instances where this has happened.
There is an argument to be made on either side. It is, however, fair to say that over the last year-and-a-half, Hamilton and Mercedes have come under a certain level of criticism for downplaying the car's competitiveness. Even in the last few races alone, some of the comments made by Hamilton have been seen in a bad light.
Just a few races back the Brit called on the FIA to prevent Red Bull from developing next year's car this early into a season. He claimed that this tactic provided enough bandwidth to the team to get a headstart on the next year as well. Surely, logically it made sense but from a racing point of view, the driver who benefitted from the same regulation advocating the change did not go down well.
Max Verstappen laughed off the suggestion and commented "he wasn't asking for it when he was dominating". The Mercedes driver's supposed hypocrisy was called out by the fans as well.
Even at the British GP, the Mercedes driver termed McLaren 'a rocketship' when in fact the race pace between the two teams wasn't too far off. In retrospect, this might have been the comment that ticked off Lando Norris before the race in Hungary.
Even in Hungary, Hamilton claimed how Red Bull 'seems to be bringing upgrades every race' when this was just the second noticeable upgrade brought by the team since Baku. More importantly, in the same period, teams including Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes have made sweeping changes to their cars with some major upgrades.
The issue could possibly be the disingenuous nature of these comments and while Lewis has faced backlash for his comments from the fans, the driver speaking about the same thing is new.
On the other side of the coin though, a lot of these comments can be put down as a certain level of gamesmanship from Lewis Hamilton. His comments asking the FIA to interfere or calling the McLaren a 'rocketship' could easily be dismissed as a certain level of sportsmanship involved.
A Lewis Hamilton fan will look at it from that lens and it's safe to say that he will not be wrong in making that argument either.
Where does the frustration come into the picture?
Arguably the frustration could possibly come from the fact that Lewis Hamilton has more or less raced in a race-winning car for the majority of his career.
Since 2007 when he debuted with McLaren alongside Fernando Alonso, not even in a single season has gone by where Hamilton has not had a car that was capable of at least winning one race over a season.
He's enjoyed almost a decade of having the fastest car on the grid and just came off the most dominant reign in F1. When it comes to having the best car, Hamilton has had it for a long time, and it was an eventuality that this would happen.
As a racer, it surely is tough on the Brit. He has the hunger to win every race. and title. When he's unable to do that, he is bound to complain.
For Lando Norris, a driver who has beaten Lewis Hamilton in the last three races after an interesting battle in all of them, the comments of his car being termed a rocketship take credit away from him.
What it does is that it diminishes the achievement of beating one of the greatest talents in the sport in the similarly paced car for three races in a row.
One thing that Lando Norris touched on while talking about Lewis Hamilton was the fact that the Mercedes driver has never fought in P19 and P20. Similarly, on the flip side, Norris has never raced in the fastest car on the grid. Even Nico Hulkenberg has not done that ever in his career.
These drivers have kept their heads down and continued to work away at improving their teams. Instead of what they would term 'complaining' they're working hard with their teams. Whether that is fair or not, it does appear that watching a driver make some outlandish statements (complaints?) after driving some of the most dominant cars in F1 a few years back have rubbed them the wrong way.
Will we see more drivers express their views on Lewis Hamilton's comments (complaints?), or is the case with Lando Norris and Nico Hulkenberg? We don't know. And we will let the fans take a call on whether these comments are justified or not.
There is, however, one thing that is quite clear, neither of the two drivers appreciates Lewis Hamilton's antics, and while there is no malice on either side, calling out the most successful driver in F1 is surely making a statement.
