“I Was Swearing Quite a Bit”: Sergio Perez’s Shady tactics to Defend Verstappen Left Lando Norris Fuming

New week, a new race, a new venue, but the same result. Max Verstappen won the 13th race of the season in Japan and helped his team wrap up their sixth constructor’s championship. With Verstappen starting the race from pole position, a win was never in doubt. However, it could’ve been a little stressful or he could’ve been forced to push his RB19 if Lando Norris had his say in the matter. The only reason, according to Norris, he could not put Verstappen under pressure was because of Sergio Perez and his shady tactics. Tactics that forced an X-rated rant out of Norris during the race.

After the first half of the race and colliding with drivers on the grid a couple of times, Perez was crawling through the track under the virtual safety car (VSC). The Red Bull man had to retire his car soon after the VSC, but before he went off the track, he was a menace to Norris. The Mexican’s slow crawl during the VSC made the McLaren man lose precious time and even almost ended his race. Speaking about the frustrating scenario in the post-race interview, Norris revealed his frustration stemming from confusion from the entire scenario.

Norris revealed, “I didn’t know if he had a problem or whether he was just backing me up. I didn’t know and I couldn’t take the risk of just overtaking him. He was going so slow and then when we got the flash in dash for VSC ending, he went into first gear. I was on the outside of him because he was going so slow and he almost crashed into me.”

Norris continued and revealed his reaction to Perez’s actions. “I was shouting in my helmet. I was swearing quite a bit. I was just so confused on what I could do. I’m losing time to Max. The Ferrari guys were, I think 1.4 seconds behind after being 12 or 13 so I lost ten seconds,” he added.

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These precious ten seconds snatched any chance of Norris putting Verstappen under pressure as Perez played the perfect teammate, knowingly or unknowingly.

However, it’s not the end of the world and there are still six races to go. Within these six races, Norris plans to use his McLaren upgrades to make Verstappen’s life a little difficult.

Lando Norris and Co. reveal the masterplan to beat Max Verstappen and secure his elusive first win

After the British GP, Norris changed everyone’s perspective towards him, especially in the Red Bull camp. The Brit became part of Red Bull’s long-term plans and future. However, Norris’s focus is on the now and so is his team’s. The Woking outfit’s upgrades gave the Brit a massive boost. To capitalize on it and convert that into a win, McLaren will still need a few more upgrades. Upgrades that the team is planning to introduce before the end of the season to break Norris’s duck according to the TP Andrea Stella.

“We are definitely working on an evolution of this package. So another round of bodywork and floor we still have to sign this off. If we are successful, then we will definitely attempt to bring it to one of the events soon after the shutdown,” said Stella.

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We are not sure if the upgrades would be good enough to help beat the unstoppable Verstappen. However, the next six races will reveal the answer inevitably.