During the Japanese Grand Prix, McLaren’s Lando Norris found himself in a frustrating situation involving Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. Perez had a challenging race, receiving two penalties and getting involved in multiple incidents before retiring. As his teammate Max Verstappen dominated the race, Perez’s performance contrasted sharply.

The incident in question occurred after Perez’s second penalty. He was already at the back of the field due to an early pit stop when he attempted to overtake Kevin Magnussen at the hairpin, causing the Haas driver to spin. This incident resulted in debris on the track, prompting race stewards to implement a virtual safety car (VSC) period to allow track marshals to clear the debris.

Under the VSC conditions, Norris and Perez encountered a tense moment. Norris explained that he was unsure about Perez’s actions. According to VSC rules, overtaking is not allowed unless it’s clear that the leading car has a problem. Norris didn’t know if Perez had an issue or was intentionally slowing down.

As a result, Norris couldn’t risk overtaking Perez, who was driving significantly slower. When the VSC period was about to end, Perez unexpectedly shifted to first gear, catching Norris off guard. This led to a close encounter between the two drivers.

“So I honestly have no idea. I was shouting in my helmet. I was swearing quite a bit, but just got… I was so confused, I didn’t know what I could do. I’m losing time to Max [Verstappen]. The Ferrari guys were, I think, 1.4 seconds behind me after being I think 12s or 13s, so I lost 10 seconds. And I didn’t know what I could do at the time.”

Despite the temporary setback caused by the VSC incident with Perez, Norris managed to regain his composure and control of the race. He closed the gap to his McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri and eventually secured a second-place finish, marking his fourth podium of the season.