Lando Norris, a British driver for McLaren, overtook Valtteri Bottas of Sauber during the Chinese Grand Prix in Formula 1. Norris later admitted to using strong language in the cockpit when the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) was deployed after he passed the pit lane entry. At that point in the race, Norris was in third place but was promoted to second when Sergio Perez pitted. McLaren had informed Norris that he would have a longer first stop to counter Ferrari’s strategic move with Charles Leclerc. However, the VSC was activated to clear Bottas’ car from Turn 11, which happened after Norris passed the pit lane entry. Norris expressed frustration and used profanity when McLaren was denied the opportunity to pit during the VSC. Eventually, the VSC was upgraded to a full Safety Car, sparing Norris from further hassle. He acknowledged that he had anticipated the VSC but was still frustrated when it didn’t come out sooner. Norris believed McLaren’s strategy worked well overall as the extended first stop allowed him to feel confident and cover a long distance. The timing of the VSC benefited McLaren’s position as it forced Red Bulls to make an additional pit stop, putting Ferrari between Norris and Perez. This circumstance ended up favoring Norris.
Norris opted to switch to the hard compound tire to complete the entire race. On the restart, Leclerc and Perez were positioned behind him in their respective Ferrari and Red Bull cars.
Contrary to the initial prediction that Ferrari would outperform McLaren, Leclerc fell behind Norris and allowed him to establish a significant lead.
Although Perez managed to overtake Leclerc in the final stages, he admits that the degradation of his tires prevented him from closing the gap to Norris.
When asked if he anticipated a closer competition, Norris replied: “It’s hard to say. This track is favorable when you are in control and can manage things well.
Yesterday’s race was a completely different scenario for us. I was behind the whole pack, causing my tires to overheat and struggle. There wasn’t much I could do.
Today, I had control over my own race. I quickly pulled away from Charles, who was holding off Checo.
Checo probably had to put in a lot of effort to overtake him, using his tires in the process. It all depends on your perspective.
I might have expected a more intense battle, but knowing how much Checo struggled in the beginning to pass the Ferrari allowed me to relax more, which was quite nice.”
