Lando Norris' three-word message on Lewis Hamilton's post after the Mercedes driver's stunning race
McLaren driver Lando Norris praised the Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton after the latter completed a stunning recovery to finish on the podium at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix. The seven-time F1 world champion finished the race under the lights in Sin City behind his teammate George Russell to complete an unexpected 1-2 for the German team.
Hamilton looked as quick as his teammate throughout the weekend and could have easily taken pole position had he hooked up either office two laps in the Q3 session on Friday night, meaning he started from P10.
But the 39-year-old displayed some stunning pace on Saturday night as he made his way through the field and overtook the McLarens, Ferraris and Max Verstappen. In the later stages of the races, he even challenged George Russell for the race win as he dramatically cut down his lead from over 10 seconds to five seconds but stalled after encountering traffic.
In his Instagram post, Lewis Hamilton summarized the Las Vegas Grand Prix and said:
"From 10 to ✌🏾 Always a good time fighting up the grid. Well done to George for the win and to the team for all the work to get us to a 1-2. Definitely didn’t expect the result, and it’s a real testament to how much time, effort and team work goes into this. 2 races left, let’s keep this momentum and end on a high."
The Mercedes driver earned the plaudits of several F1 drivers including Lando Norris, who finished the race in P6 and applauded Hamilton on his race in a three-word response, saying:
"Mega race mate."
Lewis Hamilton expressed his bittersweet reaction to finishing P2
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton recognized that finishing P2 was a "great performance" from his end but admitted that he made far too many recovery drives in the 2024 season due to his qualifying woes.
Speaking in the post-race press conference, the 105-time race winner said:
"Yeah, great, great performance. It's not that I didn't think I could do it. So, yeah, I've had many races like this, but I'm generally happy to have had the recovery. You know, it's a new day and I just tried to approach it with a positive mindset. and you know to be able to have a car underneath me today, and be able to push and overtake people was such a great feeling.
"That was honestly one of the most enjoyable races. Yeah, if I'd started pole and just led the way, wouldn't have felt as much fun, for sure. Of course, winning a Grand Prix is always a great thing, but when whoever it is faces adversity and has to battle through, it just feels so much better when you do succeed."
It was Lewis Hamilton's first podium in Las Vegas and his fifth of the 2024 season having previously stood on the top step in Silverstone and Spa and P3 in Spain and Hungary.