Ted Kravitz wins bet on Lando Norris, Verstappen prediction comes true | F1 | Sport

Ted Kravitz is a whopping £0.45 richer after correctly predicting Lando Norris to finish fourth ahead of Max Verstappen in a bet with McLaren boss Andrea Stella. The Sky Sports F1 pit lane reporter chatted to Norris ahead of the race on Sunday (September 15) and revealed he had bet the Briton to finish fourth ahead of the reigning champion at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, despite starting the race from 15th place.

During the interview, Kravitz waved a dollar worth one Azerbaijani manat and told the 24-year-old: “I'm not a betting guy, but I bet Andrea one manat (0.45 pounds). [Stella] that you finish fourth ahead of Max,” to which Norris wittily replied: “Damn, how do I do that?”

Kravitz returned the question to the two-time race winner, who admitted that finishing ahead of the Dutchman in Baku was no easy task, replying: “It's not easy on a street circuit.”

Kravitz's correct prediction that Norris would overtake Verstappen, who finished in P5, led to the reporter being mobbed by fans demanding that he put his predictions into action. One X (formerly Twitter) user wrote: “Any other predictions we should know?”, while another jokingly commented: “Lottery numbers please Ted…”

A third person had some good advice for Kravitz, telling him: “You should have pushed a lot harder.” Norris' one place ahead of Verstappen only reduced the gap between the two by three points, leaving the three-time champion 59 points ahead of his challenger.

The controversy between the drivers – who are friends off the track – threatened to flare up again after Norris alerted his team over the radio that Verstappen was allegedly overtaking cars under virtual safety car conditions after the chequered flag was waved.

The Grand Prix ended under VSC conditions following a race-ending collision between Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez. Norris' complaint meant that Verstappen had to visit Race Control after the race as he was charged with an alleged VSC infringement for overtaking after the chequered flag.

After the chequered flag, Verstappen caught up with Norris and waved to him before overtaking Russell, with Norris telling McLaren: “Max is overtaking everyone. It's still a VSC, right? I don't know if it still matters or not, but it's still a VSC.” Alongside Nico Hülkenberg, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, Verstappen was penalised with a warning by the FIA.

Norris stressed that it was not his intention to get his co-driver into trouble, but that he was merely “stating facts”. F1 TVhe said: “I wasn't complaining about anything, I was just stating the facts. I just had VSC with the yellow lights on my dashboard. Obviously there was an accident with paramedics on the track, which normally means no overtaking, but he overtook.”