The closing stages of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix saw Lando Norris and Sergio Perez engage in a thrilling battle for P4. While Norris did a good job of defending his position, Perez was having none of it. At Turn 6, the Mexican opted for an aggressive maneuver where he dived into the inside line of the McLaren driver.
To avoid a major collision, Norris had to take the run-off area but stayed ahead of the Red Bull driver, but not for long. Perez attempted another overtake, and this time, he did it cleanly. However, the Mexican was hit with a 5-second penalty for his earlier actions, resulting in him finishing P4 in the race despite finishing P2 on the track. Speaking about the incident after the race, Norris took a sarcastic dig at the 33-year-old’s driving, as seen in a clip on X by ‘Lando Norris Fans.’
The interviewer mentioned to Norris that Checo did not agree with the 5-second penalty and deemed it a racing incident. Thus, Norris launched a sarcastic reply at him.
“So you’re allowed to crash into people?”
“There was a lot of space. You know like, 3 cars, 4 cars, to my left and he still hit me. But good to know for the next year, I’ll do the same.”
The McLaren driver found it “interesting” that Perez was not happy with the penalty and that he questioned the decision. A visibly annoyed Norris was having none of it, as was evident in his response and his ‘plans’ for the next year.
Sergio Perez wanted Lando Norris to share the blame
After the race, Perez expressed his dissatisfaction with the race stewards over his penalty, which cost him a podium finish. According to the Mexican, the contact made between his car and Norris’ car was not all his fault. He argued that a collision involves two parties and that Norris was also to blame for the incident.
However, the stewards only penalized Perez as they felt the Mexican was solely responsible for the contact. Perez, on the other hand, argued Norris turned into him and cut a corner, thus stating the Briton should also be penalized. Upon coming to know of the penalty, Perez called the race stewards “a joke” on his team radio, inviting further trouble. The stewards summoned the Red Bull driver after the race and issued a formal warning. However, Perez stuck with the belief that the contact was the fault of both drivers.
