Lando Norris Breaks Silence on Being Booed by Tifosi at Italian GP

Lando Norris had a controversial outing at the Italian GP for McLaren. The British driver finished in second place ahead of teammate Oscar Piastri. Though, team orders from the McLaren pitwall did play a role in this result. Following the race, the 25-year-old was seemingly booed by the crowd on the podium. Now, Norris has responded to this negative reception.

The British driver started the race from second place and even led a few laps early on. Though, Lando Norris was no match for Max Verstappen. A botched pitstop pushed the 25-year-old behind Oscar Piastri. McLaren instructed the Australian driver to give back the position in order to keep the title fight fair. This allowed Norris to finish ahead of his teammate.

However, fans were not happy with the team orders. The Tifosi at the Italian GP were furious during the podium ceremony. Loud boos were heard during the broadcast, as fans expressed their anger. On the other hand, race winner Max Verstappen received an incredibly fun reception from the crowd.

Lando Norris opened up on the situation. The British driver confessed that he could hear the boos when he made his way to his podium spot. However, the McLaren driver made one thing very clear, the sound of the applauds was way louder than the boos and whistles. This showed that while Norris might have a group of haters, he also has a much larger group of passionate supporters.

I heard them, but I don’t know why – the most important thing is that I heard the applause louder than the whistles.

Lando Norris said, as quoted by F1i.com

Lando Norris defends team orders at Italian GP

The team order controversy is unlikely to cool down in the coming weeks. Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are fighting for the world title. Yet, Piastri was made to give up the place for no fault of his own. Though, McLaren argues that Norris had made no mistake for falling down to third place. Thus, the situation was rather tricky.