A fierce rivalry has existed between teammates Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris since the Australian joined McLaren last year, but that doesn’t mean Ricciardo thinks his driver pairing is a jerk.
In a hilarious interview following the French Grand Prix, Ricciardo was left-red faced after mistakenly calling Norris an “asshole” in Italian.
Influenced by his Italian-born father and time spent living in Italy while chasing his Formula 1 dream, the 33-year-old often makes an effort to speak the language, but erroneously misused the term “stronzo” concerning Norris.
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In fairness to Ricciardo, “stronzo” has different meanings depending on the context in which the word is used, but the phrase has a vulgar connotation.
While speaking to an Italian media outlet post-race – with Norris notedly standing behind him – Ricciardo said: “Asshole, no?”
Instantly disagreeing with the comment, the female interviewer told Ricciardo he should not say that about his fellow prankster.
However, Ricciardo continued, repeating the phrase three more times before asking: “Isn’t that a good word?”.
“No, it’s a bad word,” the interviewer replied.
Apologising for misunderstanding, Ricciardo said: “Scusa, like really bad?”
To which the interviewer explained: “More bad than good.”
Norris then joined Ricciardo to finish his on-camera conversation, oblivious to what had just occurred.
After starting ninth at Paul Ricard on account of grid penalties to Carlos Sainz and Kevin Magnussen, the Western Australian was able to hold his position to record consecutive points finishes for the first time this season.
Norris finished ahead of Ricciardo in seventh.
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