Norris stressed out by Perez: "You're under pressure all the time".

Lando Norris is having a very strong season so far in his third year in Formula 1. He has been on the podium twice and is third in the championship behind Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. In Monaco, however, the young Briton was under a lot of pressure.

Under pressure from Perez

In Monaco, Norris finished on the podium, but not without a struggle. At the end of the race, the McLaren driver came under increasing pressure from Sergio Perez. "I know it's quite easy to defend in Monaco, but you're under pressure all the time, like I was at the end by Perez," the Briton said on Motorsport-Total.com. "It was stressful to see him in the mirror at every corner after we struggled a bit more on the hard tyres in the second stint."

Norris, however, knew exactly what he had to do in the narrow streets of Monte Carlo. "It was clear to me that if I didn't make any mistakes, I would have a good chance. However, I had to manage the fuel and the tyres. That made life harder for me."

Radio silence for Norris

With the intense pressure from Perez, Norris made it clear to his engineer Will Joseph that he wanted to be left alone for a while in the closing stages of the race. "You just want to concentrate on what's important now. You want to be in your element and not hit the crash barriers. You don't want to think about anything else."

All other information no longer mattered for a moment. "So if he tells me it's a guy 20 seconds ahead of me, I don't really care. I just wanted to focus on riding. Nothing else." It helped, as Norris successfully manages to defend his third spot.