London - Red-faced Lando Norris has been handed a repair bill after pranging a McLaren 720S into the Silverstone gravel.
The British teenage F1 driver, who currently drives for the McLaren team, spun the supercar through the Maggots and Becketts turns while taking Sky pundit Johnny Herbert on a filmed hot lap.
Neither was hurt as the yellow McLaren 720S went back-end first into the sand trap, where it remained beached. Norris, 19, put his foot on the gas in an attempt to clamber back on to the track but the wheels merely spun in the gravel. The car dipped deeper into the mire with each try.
"Jonny was talking to me too much," said Norris, laughing at his mistake on the eve of his first British Grand Prix. "It was a talent failure."
Herbert, who won the race in 1995, got out and used a shovel to try, forlornly, to free the wheels.
A crane finally arrived and carried the car back to the garage.
"We are going to stick the bill on him," confirmed a McLaren team member.
At least Norris should be able to afford the damage - he received a slight upgrade in salary this week, to £400 000 (R6.98m), as a reward for a fine start to his debut season.
His mishap came after he had fallen about in a gale of giggles at the press conference.
Sitting next to Lewis Hamilton, Norris suggested that the five-time world champion might increase his popularity by growing a moustache of Nigel Mansell proportions.
Daniel Ricciardo, sharing the stage, whispered to the youthful Norris: "Have you got any pubes yet?" The question so tickled him that he laughed uncontrollably, taking off his microphone. "It’s just Daniel," explaned Norris later. "He’s a funny guy whatever he says."
AP Photo/Luca Bruno.