An amusing series of messages have emerged that were accredited to McLaren’s Lando Norris, following his split with Luisinha Barosa Oliveira.
The 22-year-old started dating the Portuguese model towards the end of last year, and they confirmed the start of their relationship on Instagram.
The pair endured months of invasive comments from fans on social media, some of whom, strangely, took offence to the presence of Oliveira in the McLaren driver’s life.
Now though, Norris and Oliveira have amicably split, with the young Briton taking to Instagram to announce the sad news.
READ: Lando Norris makes ‘shocking’ McLaren claim as he makes Red Bull comparison
“Hello everyone. After time and consideration, Luisa and myself have mutually decided to end our relationship but remain good friends,” he explained.
“I wish her the world and have so much respect for her and all she does as an amazing and strong woman with nothing but kindness.
“Please respect our decision and respect our – but more importantly and especially her privacy moving forward. Thank you for your endless support.’
A questionable source leaked some messages that Norris allegedly sent to a woman he supposedly met at last year’s Dutch Grand Prix.
He is said to have invited her to his hotel room to enjoy a takeout after he had separated from Oliveira.
“Ordering McDonald’s come join,” he said.
“Don’t you have a boyfriend, or single?” he is then rumoured to have asked after the woman supposedly messaged him about his status.
“Yeah I have, and you too right?” was the reported reply.
“I’m single now,” Norris allegedly replied.
“Please delete them haha,” the source quotes Norris as saying after discovering that the messages had been leaked.
READ: Lando Norris reveals why McLaren had a ‘Plan G’
Out on track this weekend, Norris completed 31 laps in the first practice session as he set the fourth fastest lap time.
The 22-year-old’s team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo, was one position and two tenths behind, with the McLaren drivers around half a second adrift of the pace of George Russell.
The Mercedes driver led home team-mate Sir Lewis Hamilton, while Max Verstappen had completed seven laps before a gearbox failure curtailed his session as he wound up 19th.