Lando Norris was smashed in the face by McLaren team-mate on British GP grid
F1 may be the most dangerous sport in the world, but one of Lando Norris' biggest hits to the head was in a different race. The Bristolian is one of the favourites to emerge from Silverstone victorious at the British Grand Prix this weekend.
He has come close to victory on two occasions, finishing second in 2023 and third in 2024. Last year's GP proved to be a difficult weekend for Norris, as his decision making regarding what tires to use saw him lose pace with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.
However, the 2022 GP was also memorable as his head was nearly separated from his shoulders by former driving partner Daniel Ricciardo launching a space hopper at his face. The Australian's aim could not have been better, as he caught the Brit right on the nose.
Ricciardo and Norris were enjoying an entertaining space hopper race against each other at the home straight of Silverstone, as fans watched on eagerly. The bouncy GP did not start well for the Brit, as he quickly slipped off and fell backwards.
He had a lot of ground to make up on his Australian rival, who looked destined to bounce over the finish line. Norris engaged in a bit of gamesmanship by picking up the space hopper and running past the Honey Badger.
As Norris was about to pass Ricciardo, the Aussie picked up his own space hopper and launched it right into his face from point-blank range. Perhaps realising things may have been taken a bit too far, Ricciardo instantly checked up on his team-mate, whose eyes may have been watering at the time.
While Norris could be heard shouting, "I can't see" Ricciardo, who was trying to hold back his laughter, could be heard saying: "You know when you do something and you realise you probably shouldn't have done it? It was too late."
Norris was able to see the funny side. At the time, Ricciardo was McLaren's main man, while Norris was the youthful prodigy who was expected to push him.
However, Norris comfortably outperformed his more experienced team-mate considerably, finishing 7th and amassing 122 points, compared to Ricciardo's disappointing 11th placed finish with just 37 points. In August 2022, Ricciardo was brutally sacked by McLaren, who decided to terminate his contract a year later.
They would go on to replace the Australian with Oscar Piastri, who was a reserve at Alpine at the time. Things have changed remarkably for both Norris and Piastri this year.
The pair are neck and neck at the top of the F1 standings, with Piastri commanding a narrow 15-point lead over his McLaren team-mate. All eyes will be on the McLaren duo at Silverstone this weekend.
After his departure, Ricciardo was re-signed by Red Bull as a third driver in November 2022. He would go on to be promoted to a race seat in their second team as a replacement for Nick de Vries in July 2023.
However, after being unable to outperform Yuki Tsunoda, Ricciardo was replaced by Liam Lawson in September 2024. While he has not announced his retirement, Ricciardo is currently away from F1, having not been signed by anybody for the 2025 campaign.
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