Lando Norris Declares Max Verstappen ‘Quicker’ Than McLaren After Dutchman’s Emilia Romagna GP Win

Lando Norris made a bold claim over Red Bull's pace after Max Verstappen's dominant race win at Imola.

Lando Norris Declares Max Verstappen ‘Quicker’ Than McLaren After Dutchman’s Emilia Romagna GP Win

Lando Norris and Max Verstappen (images via IMAGO)

McLaren was expected to be the favorites heading into the Emilia Romagna GP. While championship leader Oscar Piastri aimed to bag his fifth win of the season, Lando Norris hoped to turn things around and get a decent result. But it was reigning world champion Max Verstappen who emerged victorious this weekend. Norris applauded his arch-rival and his team’s pace at Imola.

Max Verstappen took the lead from pole sitter Oscar Piastri at Turn 1 and never looked back. The Dutchman was lucky with the first Virtual Safety Car (VSC), allowing him to make a rightly timed pitstop. The 27-year-old was in a league of his own in the latter half of the race. Before the Safety Car (SC), Verstappen had a gap of over 25 seconds to Norris. The reigning world champion further kept his ground on the restart and brought home a comfortable win.

Lando Norris admitted that the race was quite long considering the VSC and SC. The British driver pointed out that its not easy for drivers to overtake at Imola due to the nature of the iconic Italian circuit. Norris further praised Max Verstappen for his dominant drive in the race. However, the McLaren driver was confident that Verstappen and Red Bull had the quicker car this time around.

Yeah, it was a long race from that perspective, not easy to overtake but we did what we could. Max drove a good race, they were quick today – probably a little quicker. A good race, for us as a team second and third is great as they were too good for us today.

Lando Norris said post-race

This would be a surprise considering the Woking-based squad had a significant pace advantage against Red Bull so far this year. Nevertheless Norris was content as McLaren managed to secure a double podium finish this weekend.

Lando Norris took ‘advantage’ of George Russell’s struggles

At the start of the race, Lando Norris found himself stuck behind the Mercedes of George Russell. Norris was losing crucial time to Piastri and Verstappen upfront. However, the McLaren driver recognized that Russell was struggling with his tires with his pace consistently falling. This was the moment when the 25-year-old sensed an opportunity and made the move. Ultimately, he got past the Mercedes and swiftly created a gap.

Lando Norris and George Russell (via F1 Oversteer)
Lando Norris and George Russell (via F1 Oversteer)

Lando Norris was respectful of George Russell. The McLaren driver insisted that he had to make a move and get past the 27-year-old. Though, Norris insisted that Russell was a fair racer who did not make any aggressive moves to defend. This has become a rarity in Formula 1 over the years with drivers constantly blaming one another of making too harsh moves to overtake.

With George, he was struggling with the tyres a lot so it is a situation you have to take advantage of, we are racing – but he is a good racer, a fair racer.

Lando Norris added

The 25-year-old kept his calm in the remainder of the race. Lando Norris managed to get past Oscar Piastri after the Safety Car, courtesy of his fresher tires. The Briton tried to potentially challenge Max Verstappen for the lead. However, Norris simply did not have the pace to catch up with the Dutchman with just a handful of laps to spare. Nevertheless, the McLaren star would be happy to have finally outperformed his teammate yet again.

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