Having clinched his first F1 victory on the Miami Grand Prix, Lando Norris was as soon as once more Max Verstappen’s closest challenger in right now’s Imola F1 spherical.
Norris appeared extraordinarily fast in qualifying, however he missed pole place by lower than a tenth of a second. With his team-mate Oscar Piastri receiving a grid penalty for impeding Kevin Magnussen within the first a part of qualifying, he was promoted to P2 on the grid.
Despite a superb launch off the road, he was unable to maintain up with race chief Max Verstappen within the opening stint on Pirelli’s mediums, however he displayed eye-catching velocity in his second stint on hards. The Bristol-born was capable of shut a spot of virtually seven seconds to only seven tenths of a second within the last levels of the 63-lap Imola race, placing Verstappen below huge stress.
“Another nice weekend for the crew. I fought onerous proper till the final lap however we simply misplaced out somewhat bit an excessive amount of to Max at first. One or two extra laps and it will have been lovely – however simply wasn’t meant to be right now.
“We’ve been aggressive all weekend and I feel we’re on the level the place we’re capable of combat Ferrari and Red Bull constantly. We should get used to that – the crew is doing an excellent job so it’s nice that combating on the entrance is now business-as-usual.
“We just need to keep focused on improving. It’s still a surprise to say it’s frustrating to not win, but after last weekend and the improvements we made, it’s what we should start to expect,” commented Norris.
His team-mate Oscar Piastri put in an excellent effort in qualifying to safe P2 on the grid, however an absence of communication meant that he impeded Kevin Magnussen within the first a part of qualifying.
The Australian was handed a three-place grid penalty for the incident, and began solely from P5. Although he was capable of overtake Carlos Sainz with an undercut technique, he was unable to problem Charles Leclerc for the final spot on the rostrum.
“P4, a superb day and I feel that’s essentially the most we may have executed. I simply received caught behind Sainz for the primary stint however the crew made a terrific technique name and we managed to overhaul by pitting.
“This weekend proves how far the crew have come and we’re assured we will preserve taking the combat to the entrance. However right now, monitor place was so essential, so I’m glad with our work.”
Lots to unpack right here. 😅 Worth each second of the 3-minute watch. 📺#ImolaGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/qXol2LaXxU
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) May 19, 2024
Mclaren left the Imola spherical with the most important level haul of any groups, that means that they barely closed in on the field-leading Red Bull and Ferrari.
Expanding on McLaren’s sensible efficiency on the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, crew boss Andrea Stella added: “A optimistic day at Imola and the primary time in 2024 McLaren have emerged as the highest-scoring crew.
“P4 for Oscar got here from good technique and good tempo, permitting him to achieve a spot on a day when it was not simple to. P2 for Lando was a really sturdy consequence. It was a shock to be in competition for the victory on the finish of the race.
“It happened as a consequence of how delicate the tyres had been right now. In the primary stint, Max did a greater job of managing the Medium and after the stops, Lando did an excellent job of managing the Hard, resisting the temptation to overdo it when Leclerc was catching up. It paid off on the finish with sturdy tempo and being within the hunt for the victory.
“Everyone at McLaren has worked very hard to make these results possible, and they have my thanks for the upgrades that have arrived over the last few weeks, but also for the commitment, the hard work, and the quality of that work. We need to keep improving the car. If we can do that, we’re going to be in a good position for the future,” Stella concluded.
