Fending off Perez for the F1 podium in Monaco was “stressful”

On Saturday, Norris qualified fifth and finished fourth on the grid when Ferrari’s pole sitter Charles Leclerc failed to make the start.

Norris chased Carlos Sainz Jr.’s remaining Ferrari in the first stint but then began to fade away on hard tires in the second stint.

With Valtteri Bottas out after a Mercedes pit stop, Norris’ finished fourth and the young Briton defended his second podium of the year against the chasing Perez in the final laps.

In a processional race in Monaco, overtaking proved impossible, but before the checkered flag, Norris still had to suck up a lot of pressure from the Mexican, who was wearing fresher tires.

“It’s a cool feeling,” said Norris. “You don’t know how cool it is until you’re actually there, it’s amazing.

“It’s a hell of a long race, especially with Perez on the final laps.

“I know it’s relatively easy to defend in Monaco, but there is still exactly that pressure and it’s a bit stressful to see it in my mirrors every time I go around the corner.

“We were there, you know, I kept up in the first stint. In the second stint we had a bit more problems with the harder tire, but we had a good pace all weekend and it paid off today.”

Norris said he was confident of keeping Perez’s faster Red Bull at bay if he got a good exit from the corners onto Monaco’s short straights, but said managing his tires and fuel was “life on” Make taxes much more difficult.

“I think the Red Bull are a bit faster than us, they were a lot faster,” added Norris.

“But it’s a track that is relatively easy to defend on, as long as you’ve covered Turn 1 and Turn 10, you’re in good shape as long as I haven’t made any mistakes there.” I knew I would be there with a good shot.

“It was more about managing a few things like the fuel, the tires and things like that that made my life a lot harder than ideal, but it’s the way it is. It’s the way that racing sometimes got lost, but it paid off. ” I’m not complaining.”

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Norris, who is one of F1’s top performers with two podium finishes in 2021, is leaving Monaco third in the championship after skipping the unfortunate Bottas.

But the 21-year-old downplayed his high championship position as a “bonus” and preferred to focus on the fact that the Woking team’s efforts to catch up with F1’s top teams are starting to pay off.

“I’m not thinking about the championship, that’s an added bonus for now,” he said.

“Moments like today, Imola, the greatest thing is to see the team, how happy they are and how their hard work pays off.

“It’s our last year to really take that next step and really get on the same footing as Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari and days like today prove it.

“But it’s also very motivating for the team to make sure that, like yesterday, two tenths away from pole, we can get even stronger if we improve the car a little bit.”

“Well, it’s great. Thanks to you and we’ll try to move on.”