Lando Norris delivers verdict on rival Sergio Perez amid Japanese GP showdown.

Lando Norris doubts his chances of passing Sergio Perez in Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix now that the Red Bull driver has “got his act together”.

Lando Norris qualified third for Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix in a strong result for McLaren, with only the two Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez ahead

Perez’s seat has been under pressure for months thanks to a run of underwhelming performances last year. In particular, his performance at the 2023 Suzuka race was one of his most dismal of the whole campaign.

But he has started the new season strongly to quieten talk of him being replaced at the end of this season. And his qualifying performance in Japan on Saturday has placed him well to continue his strong points-scoring form.

Perez was second quickest, behind only team-mate Max Verstappen, and came within just a few hundredths of a second of toppling the Dutchman. Norris was best of the rest, qualifying third behind only the two Red Bulls.

The McLaren driver came in third place in Melbourne two weeks ago and now aims for another podium finish. However, he acknowledges the challenge of surpassing even one of the Red Bulls, so he plans to concentrate on defending his position from competitors in Sunday’s race. Norris acknowledged the challenge posed by Sergio, who is performing well in the race.

He mentioned that Sergio’s car is particularly difficult to keep up with.

Despite this, Norris highlighted that they were able to stay competitive with their rivals even when they were further behind last year.

Therefore, their goal is to continue to stay in contention with the leading car. “I believe that realistically, we are still too far behind to compete with them because they are faster than us. While we may be faster in qualifying, they usually distance themselves further in the race.

Our main rivalry is with the competitors behind us, and I will strive to move forward at the same time.”

Perez has performed significantly better this weekend compared to the same time last year. He mentioned that he has improved and it appears to be true. Therefore, there is some doubt about Red Bull’s confidence in him.

Perez playfully mentioned on the radio that he made a bet with Christian Horner which inspired him to secure a position on the front row. However, Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko believes that the fear of losing his seat is what has driven the

Mexican driver to perform at his best. Marko noted that the possibility of next year’s contracts being at risk, earlier than usual, may also be serving as a motivation for Perez. The 80-year-old observed that this factor seems to be highly motivating for Perez.

Typically, driver decisions are not discussed in April, but it seems like there have been significant developments in this regard.

Despite this, it is too early for any decisions to be made and the team will wait before reaching a conclusion.