Lando Norris indirectly calls George Russell “an idiot” after the Mercedes driver impeded the McLaren star in Monaco FP

As drivers and teams prepare for the 81st running at Monaco, sparks have already started flying on McLaren's team radio. During the final free practice session, Lando Norris vented his frustration to his race engineer on the radio, indirectly calling the Mercedes-AMG driver George Russell "an idiot".

After two successful race weekends at Miami and Emilia-Romagna, McLaren and Norris entered the Mediterranian micro-state on an all-time high. The iconic British racing team had updated its MCL38 race car at the Chinese Grand Prix, boosting its overall performance exponentially. This allowed Norris to significantly close the gap to the current leaders, Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen. The #4 racer managed to defeat the three-time world champion at Miami and also came close to snatching the victory at Emilia-Romagna in a closely-fought battle to the chequered flag (difference of just over 0.7 seconds).

During the final Free Practice (FP3) session, Norris was managing good lap times, gathering crucial data for the team to make final adjustments for Qualifying. However, the young Brit was impeded by rival and compatriot Russell, ruining his flying lap on the street circuit. Although not intentional by the Mercedes driver, his actions caused Norris to lose his temper. The Bristol-based racer retaliated on team radio:

"**** Idiots, these blokes! All of them. Not all of them, just some of them"

To which, his race engineer William Joseph replied:

"I won't ask you to name which ones are and aren't"

Here's a look at the post shared by X user @leclercsletters:

For those new to motorsport, Joseph has been an engineer in Formula 1 for 13 years and has been the race engineer for Norris for the past five years. During his stint in the sport, Joseph has also worked with the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez, Kevin Magnessun, and Fernando Alonso.

"I've got fed up of myself kind of underestimating what we can achieve as a team": Lando Norris is aiming for the best result at the Principality

Ahead of one of the most glamourous racing weekends, Lando Norris spoke with Sky Sports News on Wednesday, expressing his feelings and overall positivity at the McLaren camp after two successful Grand Prix. He threatened the repeat of Miami and Emilia-Romagna on Sunday's race.

Norris is aiming to keep the pressure on Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen and is not ruling out Monaco GP win or 2024 title run. He said:

"It's about time someone put him (Verstappen) under pressure and he felt a bit of nerves again, because I'm sure he hasn't felt it for a while."

Norris further added:

"I've got fed up of myself kind of underestimating what we can achieve as a team. So we're going to come in, we're positive, we've had a very good run of results - second, first, second - and there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to continue that here in Monaco."

After witnessing the effects of the upgrade package in the past three races, Norris believes McLaren can challenge both Red Bull Racing and Verstappen for the 2024 Constructor and driver's title.