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Lando Norris on Madrid Coca-Cola drama: “I can drink whatever I like”

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Norris said nobody had followed up with him about the viral cooldown room exchange

While the majority of us are looking forward to the upcoming United States Grand Prix, Lando Norris was asked to reminisce about a moment that went viral over the weekend of the Spanish Grand Prix. In the cooldown room following the Madrid race, Norris was seemingly asked to put down the Coca-Cola he was drinking and his response flooded social media. He's now discussed the moment further ahead of his Austin race.

Norris finished third at the new Madring circuit in September after losing his lead when a virtual safety car allowed Kimi Antonelli and Max Verstappen to make cheap pitstops. The reigning champion fought hard and deserved a cool can of anything following the race, so when someone poked their head into the cooldown room to ask him not to, he politely snapped.

“I just did a race, so I’m allowed to drink what I would like. Thank you so much,” Norris replied at the time.

Pepsi, a rival of Coca-Cola, is an official partner of Formula 1, so having another logo go out on the international broadcast maybe wasn't something the championship wanted.

Asked during his media session in Austin whether anyone had followed up with him, and how he felt about cameras filming drivers straight after a race, he said: “No, no one’s ever said anything to me since. I feel like we should be allowed to drink whatever we want after a race, especially when you’re in it for two hours.

"It’s been some of the hottest races, cars are also difficult to drive, so I feel like I should be allowed to drink what I want.”

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

Norris suggested his team, McLaren, rather than him, had taken the blame, and that the team has since found a way to hide the branding.

“I think from a team, the team might have been told off more than I was. And therefore we have like little holders to put our drinks in, so it’s unbranded, but I think I’m allowed to drink whatever I can. It’s just the branding issues that they have. But this is not something I need to be thinking of or I should be thinking of, so it’s some stuff I’m sure that was cleared up between other people. That’s simply all it was I think. It’s just TV and branding and all of those things, but I can drink whatever I like.”

Not everyone sided with Norris at the time. Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner said on The Red Flags podcast that the moment was “not the smartest thing to do”.

“If you are a professional, you don’t do that. End of story,” Steiner said. “You know what you can do and what you cannot do. You’re well trained.”

Despite Steiner's comments, the clip was widely shared on social media with fans praising Norris for pushing back.