Yesterday’s IndyCar iRacing finale was a mix of chaos, controversy, and poor sportsmanship. Lando Norris was on course to win his second Indycar esports event but the Briton suffered a bizarre crash, through no fault of his own. IndyCar racer Simon Pagenaud deliberately blocked Norris in a move that can only be described as petulant at best. Max Verstappen gave his thoughts on the incident and had a unique solution to the incident.
Lando Norris and Max Verstappen react to Pagenaud’s actions
While he hasn’t been very lucky in F1 esports events, Norris has had no problems in Indycar’s esports races. The Brit took a phenomenal win on his Iracing Indycar debut. Norris would have made it 2 for 2, had it not been for Pagenaud’s actions.
Norris got an excellent launch at the start and eventually passed polesitter Scott Mclaughlin for the lead. As the race progressed, Norris battled Graham Rahal and Pagenaud for the lead. The drivers were 3 abreast heading into a sharp turn with Rahal squeezed in between Norris and Pagenaud. The American moved a little to the right, causing Pagenaud to spin out.
The incident enraged the Frenchman, who decided to give Norris a taste of someone else’s medicine. Pagenaud slowed down on the track, triggering a head-on collision by Norris. The Frenchman acted surprised and put on an apologetic façade when it was clear as day that the move was preplanned. As Pagenaud had earlier announced on his stream that he would take Norris out.
Verstappen joking on Lando’s stream: “You know what would be nice sometimes, instead of like.. having to deal with stewards, they should just add a boxing ring in the paddock and just fight it out..!” from r/formula1
Norris brushed off the incident but didn’t take too kindly to Pagenaud’s actions. Responding to fans on Twitch, Norris said:
“He just wanted to slow me down a little bit”
“By letting off in the middle of the corner and braking right in front of me, so… yeah”
“What a loser”
Norris called up Verstappen to get his views on the incident. The Dutchman suggested a pugilistic approach instead of depending on stewards for justice.
Speaking to Norris, Max said:
“You know what would be nice sometimes, instead of like.. having to deal with stewards, they should just add a boxing ring in the paddock and just fight it out..!”
Mclaughlin eventually picked up the win thanks to all the chaos that transpired in the final laps.
Abhishek Bharadwaj
Scuderia Ferrari fan.
#AlwaysBelieveInSeb
