NBA legend hijacks 'awkward' F1 podium

3 years ago 357

Shaquille O'Neal's appearance connected the podium astatine the US Formula One expansive prix has astir overshadowed the contention itself, with the NBA fable dwarfing satellite champion Lewis Hamilton.

Standing astatine 216cm tall, O'Neal was taller than Hamilton, contempt the information the Mercedes operator was lasting connected the 2nd measurement of the podium.

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The four-time NBA champion had arrived successful the pit-lane successful an open-top car to contiguous the trophy, and had to duck to marque his mode into the store and up onto the podium.

Hamilton's tallness is listed arsenic 174cm, meaning he's giving distant 42cm to O'Neal. Hamilton's authoritative value is recorded astatine 73kg, O'Neal is believed to beryllium treble that astatine astir 147kg.

It was possibly fortunate for each acrophobic that AlphaTauri operator Yuki Tsunoda, who stands astatine conscionable 157cm, didn't decorativeness successful the apical three.

In somewhat awkward scenes, O'Neal recovered himself lasting betwixt satellite title rivals Hamilton and Max Verstappen arsenic the Dutch nationalist anthem played to people the Red Bull driver's victory.

Normally the idiosyncratic presenting the trophy would lone look aft the anthems had been played.

Shaquille O'Neal delivers the trophy to the podium astatine the United States Grand Prix. (Getty)
NBA fable Shaquille O'Neal connected the podium with Lewis Hamilton (left) and Max Verstappen astatine the US Grand Prix. (Getty)

Verstappen's triumph successful Texas extended his satellite title pb to 12 points with 5 races remaining.

"Congratulations to Max, helium did a large occupation today. It was specified a pugnacious race," Hamilton said. "Got a bully commencement and gave it perfectly everything, but astatine the extremity of the day, they conscionable had the precocious manus this weekend.

"I don't cognize what we could person done differently. I'll beryllium down and speech with the squad afterwards. I deliberation the squad did a large occupation today, and it was what we had.

"We're going to astatine slightest the adjacent 2 tracks which are precise beardown circuits for Red Bull, truthful it's going to beryllium pugnacious for sure."

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