Lando Norris has contended that Sergio Perez’s struggles in Formula 1 have been more of a hindrance than a help to his Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen in 2024.
Verstappen secured the Drivers’ title last time out in Las Vegas with two rounds remaining, but Red Bull is poised to exit the Constructors Championship race in Qatar.
Red Bull’s loosening grip on the crown can be attributed to Perez experiencing a catastrophic campaign which sees him trail a sizeable 251 points behind Verstappen.
Perez, who hasn’t been on the podium since April, has accumulated a meagre 21 points during the last eight rounds and hasn’t outraced Verstappen once this season.
The large margin between the Red Bull drivers has marked a stark contrast to what Verstappen’s nearest rivals, Norris and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, have encountered.
Norris’ title hopes endured a blow when he trailed home behind Oscar Piastri in a McLaren 1-2 in Hungary, while a fight with his team-mate also cost him a win in Italy.
Meanwhile, Leclerc, who capitalised on that scrap between the two McLarens to prevail in Monza, has lost out to Carlos Sainz in the sister Ferrari on seven occasions.
But while that has been viewed as an advantage that helped Verstappen protect his lead amid Red Bull’s woes, Norris doesn’t believe the matter is as clear cut as that.
“There’s pros and cons,” Norris told media including Motorsport Week in Qatar. “There’s pros, but he has to do all his work on his own, which is hats off to him.
“He doesn’t have someone who’s pushing him, he doesn’t have someone who’s trying other things with the car and you can’t do A to B tests and things like that, because the data’s not as valuable when you don’t have someone performing at the same level.
“There’s a lot of things that Max can do that are phenomenal, driving at the level he does consistently without a team-mate that can push him in any way certainly doesn’t makes his life harder from that perspective, or from a team perspective.
“But at the same time there is no pressure, he doesn’t have to deal with trying to beat someone in his own team and that comes with some comfort.
“But they go together and sometimes and in some ways I like having a bit of pressure because it makes me do a better job.
“I’m sure he’s going to say he doesn’t care, whoever his team-mate is he doesn’t mind.
“There’s pros and cons of having a strong teammate and I hope at some point he has one that can challenge him a bit more.”
Could Red Bull have won the Constructors title?
McLaren heads the Constructors’ standings with a 24-point gap to Ferrari, but Norris insists that Red Bull would’ve won the title with two drivers on Verstappen’s level.
“Red Bull probably would have won the Constructors if they had two drivers as good as Max, that’s for sure,” Norris argued. “That’s clear. That’s obvious.
“It shows that as a team they’ve still probably done the best job. It’s tough.
“Max has proved with everybody that he’s gone up against, he’s beaten. That’s tough for any team-mate.
“It’s got nothing to do with me. I don’t care. He can have any team-mate he wants.”
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