Breaking news
Formula 1 Abu Dhabi GP
Norris says he was a "s*** driver" in Perez defeat
McLaren Formula 1 racer Lando Norris says he was a "s*** driver" in his last-lap defeat against Sergio Perez in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Valentin Khorounzhiy Edd Straw
Edited: Dec 2, 2019, 4:45 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Running in seventh place, as the best of the midfield cars, Norris came under pressure from Racing Point's Perez in the final laps of the season finale, with the Mexican on much fresher tyres of the same hard compound.
And though Norris managed to keep him at bay until the final lap, Perez ultimately got the move done around the outside of the Turn 11 left-hander after the second long straight.
Norris described his defense against Perez as "not good enough" and "too fair".
"Going to sound like I'm pretty terrible now, but he did me round the outside, end of the back straight into Turn 11, after the GP2 pits," Norris said.
"Yeah, I defended, went to the inside, he committed around the outside, he had much better tyres, I was a bit nervous of locking or doing something stupid, but I just wasn't forceful enough.
"I didn't change my mindset enough. I did the whole race being so calm and relaxed and looking after the fronts and the rears and driving slowly, and in this moment I needed to be aggressive and forceful and change how I was as a driver.
"And I didn't do that, basically. I just kind of braked, I didn't think - 'he'll be going around the outside, I need to release the brakes and give him less room' - I just was a shit driver, basically, in my mind, because he was the one guy I had to beat today, and I didn't.
"So, because of that I'm annoyed. But, yeah, the rest of the race was good, but it all led up to this one moment, and I failed in what I needed to do. That's about it."
Read Also:
Norris' frustration was exacerbated by the fact Perez narrowly beat him to 10th place in the drivers' standings thanks to the move.
"I was surprised to even hold him off as long as I did, for five or six laps before that, because the Racing Points are super quick in the straights. And he had much better tyres than me.
"I was happy with a lot of the things that I did today, which was a good thing, but just that one mistake, I kind of let everything down with."
Perez, for his part, described the move on Norris as "one of the best in my career", and was also full of praise for the way the McLaren rookie conducted himself in wheel-to-wheel battle.
"[It's] great for him, because he's very young, but I think he's very aggressive but fair," Perez said.
"It's always great to fight with drivers like him, you know it's going to be always very close but always very fair, there's never going to be a contact."
Additional reporting by Jonathan Noble
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Vettel admits he "must do better" next season
Next article Verstappen hurt by throttle response issue
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Valentin Khorounzhiy
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
WTCR
WTCR
Hungaroring
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
General
General
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
More from
Lando Norris
McLaren to introduce 2027 F1 front wing at Brazil GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
14 h
McLaren to introduce 2027 F1 front wing at Brazil GP
"Two steps forward, one step back" – Oscar Piastri explains the route out of McLaren's car woes
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
"Two steps forward, one step back" – Oscar Piastri explains the route out of McLaren's car woes
More from
McLaren
Penalty drops Oscar Piastri out of F1 Mexico GP points
Formula 1
Formula 1
Mexican GP
Penalty drops Oscar Piastri out of F1 Mexico GP points
Why McLaren gave team order to Oscar Piastri in F1 US GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Why McLaren gave team order to Oscar Piastri in F1 US GP
Latest news
NASCAR VP explains Carson Hocevar, Josh Berry penalties
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
7 h
NASCAR VP explains Carson Hocevar, Josh Berry penalties
Colton Herta to run Cadillac FP1 in Brazil as FIA superlicense quest continues
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Mexican GP
7 h
Colton Herta to run Cadillac FP1 in Brazil as FIA superlicense quest continues
NASCAR issues penalties to Carson Hocevar and Josh Berry for Martinsville brake-checks
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
9 h
NASCAR issues penalties to Carson Hocevar and Josh Berry for Martinsville brake-checks
NASCAR making progress with short track show but drivers still want more
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
9 h
NASCAR making progress with short track show but drivers still want more
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe