Norris, swearing on the radio: “F-word and s-word, then relief”

The neutralization mocked Perez

“You'll see that they'll put on the Virtual Safety Car as soon as I take the last corner”. As Lando Norris he had prophesied to his race engineer what could potentially be a joke for the McLaren driver. In fact, when the Chinese GP was almost halfway through, Valtteri Bottas had to park his Sauber in a dangerous spot after the power unit broke.

The Race Direction was not so reactive – to put it mildly – ​​and then opted for the Virtual Safety Car regime just at the moment in which it would no longer be possible for Norris to take the pit road. The VSC lasted so long that the McLaren driver was able to change tires on the following lap. Additionally, the VSC has transformed into one Safety Cara decision that forced Red Bull to call both drivers back to the pits for the second and final stop.

A forced decision that relegated Sergio Perez behind Charles Leclerc in fourth place, at which point it was relatively simple for Norris to defend second position until the finish line: “I said a few swear words over the radio when the Virtual Safety Car arrived just when I had already passed the last bend – Norris declared in the press conference – it would have been difficult to accept that the VSC, for example, ended just when I was about to reach the pit road again. In the end I have to admit that the neutralization not only did not penalize me, but it also helped me, because Red Bull also had to call Sergio Perez back to the pits who returned to the track behind Leclerc's Ferrari and I believe this dynamic helped me saved'”.