Daniel Ricciardo‘s rivalry with teammate Lando Norris has been teased out since the Aussie larrikin joined McLaren last year, but the drivers’ competitiveness took a humorous turn ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix.
While playing up for the crowd at their team’s home Grand Prix at Silverstone, the pair were asked to race along the track on the popular children’s toy, moon hoppers.
After some pre-race trash talking and carry-on, Ricciardo quickly surged to an unchangeable lead following an early collision.
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https://twitter.com/ESPNF1/status/1542563103111536643?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
In a desperate attempt to steal back victory, Norris picked up his happy hopper and ran towards the finish line, however he was soon met with a rude awakening.
After seeing Norris abandon the rules, Ricciardo stood, swinging his papaya moon hopper directly into Norris’ face. The connection timed perfectly.
Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft could not contain his laughter as Ricciardo chased Norris down to apologise.
“When they (earlier) said they might get injured that wasn’t one of the possibilities,” Croft said.
Asking Norris if was alright, the Brit replied: “I can’t see”.
Ricciardo later shared a tongue-in-cheek tweet confirming Norris was unharmed in the incident.
“He’s ok,” he wrote.
https://twitter.com/danielricciardo/status/1542576425298976770?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
But while Norris may have escaped unharmed, it appears his pride will need some more time to recover.
https://twitter.com/LandoNorris/status/1542583143890157570?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/Travon/status/1542667953488818176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Celebrating his 33rd birthday on Friday, Ricciardo sits six spots adrift of Norris in the drivers’ standings with 15 points.
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