Frustrated Lando Norris blames Sergio Perez for costing him ’10 seconds’ under Virtual Safety Car at the Japanese GP

Lando Norris was furious as he was stuck behind Sergio Perez under the Virtual Safety Car.

Frustrated Lando Norris blames Sergio Perez for costing him ’10 seconds’ under Virtual Safety Car at the Japanese GP

Lando Norris (L) and Sergio Perez (R) (via IMAGO)

Lando Norris secured another podium finish this year at the Japanese GP. The British driver finished second behind championship leader Max Verstappen by a gap of almost 20 seconds. However, the McLaren driver believes that this gap could’ve been a lot lower if he was not stuck behind Sergio Perez under the Virtual Safety Car in the first half of the race.

The VSC was called on Lap 14 after Perez made contact with the Haas of Kevin Magnussen. Drivers are required to drive at the same speed under such conditions. However, Lando Norris had managed to get right behind the Mexican driver. The British driver was forced to stay behind Checo for almost a minute before he decided to overtake the Red Bull.

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Norris highlighted that Perez must’ve faced an issue that made him slower than the delta time. Although, the 23-year-old mentioned that he had no choice but to stay behind until the problem had become apparent. He said, as reported by Racefans.net, “I don’t know what’s going on. I didn’t know if he had a problem… I couldn’t take the risk of just overtaking him.”

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The McLaren driver recalled being furious at Sergio Perez. So much so, that the Briton resorted to cursing the 33-year-old. Moreover, Lando Norris was convinced that he lost at least 10 seconds with the Ferrari drivers closing behind the Briton.

Norris continued, “I was shouting in my helmet, I was swearing quite a bit… I’m losing time to Max, the Ferrari guys were, I think, 1.4 seconds behind me after being, I think 12 or 13 [behind]. So I lost 10 seconds and it’s just I didn’t know what I could do at the time.”

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Lando Norris unhappy with Sergio Perez

The 23-year-old admitted that this did not matter in hindsight as the McLaren driver finished 19.3 seconds behind Verstappen. However, Lando Norris believed that he could’ve put some pressure on the two-time world champion had he not lost so much time behind Perez. The Briton made it clear that he was stressed while being stuck behind Sergio Perez.

Sergio Perez and Lando Norris, image via Marca.com
Sergio Perez and Lando Norris, image via Marca.com

Lando Norris hoped that he could avoid such an incident in the future. The McLaren driver stated that he would ask his team before making a move in similar situations from now. Although, the 23-year-old was convinced that he made the right call to get past Perez at the end. The Briton concluded, “So, a frustrating time. Maybe I’ll ask next time what you’re allowed to do but I think I did the right thing, so all okay.”

Nevertheless, Lando Norris managed to pull off a stellar drive at Suzuka. The 23-year-old brought home a P2 finish with teammate Oscar Piatsri securing the final spot on the podium. As such, despite facing a frustrating situation, Norris would be satisfied with the weekend as the Woking-based team bagged a double podium in Japan.

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