Throwback to Lando Norris’ “Love you Lewis Hamilton" message after the Mercedes star’s compliment in the 2021 Austrian GP

McLaren driver Lando Norris was a bit overwhelmed when Lewis Hamilton complimented him mid-race during the 2021 Austrian GP.

The young Briton was the standout driver apart from the title challengers Max Verstappen and Hamilton in 2021. One of the best showcases of his racecraft came at the Red Bull Ring, where he started from P2 and held his own against the Mercedes duo of Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton.

While battling for the final podium place against the seven-time world champion, his defensive skills earned him praise from the Mercedes driver. Hamilton took to his radio after overtaking Norris and said:

"Such a great driver, Lando."

When he was shown the clip during his round of post-race interviews by Sky Sports, Norris returned the favor and replied:

"Love you Lewis,"

Lewis Hamilton analyzes his performance and the W14's characteristics in 2023

After introducing their big upgrade package at the 2023 Monaco GP, Mercedes have become more competitive on the track as evidenced by Lewis Hamilton's back-to-back podiums in Spain and Canada.

However, the Briton stated that he did not feel much difference in the car from the beginning of the year and said in his post-race press conference:

"In truth, it doesn't feel a huge difference from the beginning of the year. There are some elements of the car that do feel different obviously with the upgrade, but it's simply just having a little bit more downforce on the car. But the characteristics of the car are very, very similar to what we had earlier on in the year and so we need to – for the future, for next year's car – you need to take a lot of these different things off and change them for sure. It's definitely not the car, characteristic-wise, that's going to be able to beat the Red Bull just yet. And so, we've got to work on that."

Lewis Hamilton also spoke on the frustration of not winning races and added:

“It’s not a frustration anymore if it ever was. It's what you're faced with, and there's nothing I can do about their amazing performance. It's likely that they will win every race, moving forward, this year, unless the Astons and we put a lot more performance on the cars, or their car doesn’t finish."

Let's see if Lewis Hamilton finds himself in the mix for a surprise race win in Austria this weekend.