Lando Norris says there was no discussion about team orders during F1 Imola GP re-start, as he is pleased with recovery amid Red Bull surprise.
After another difficult qualifying, McLaren’s Norris had much to do on Sunday in F1 Imola GP. When Max Verstappen overtook Oscar Piastri on Lap 1, the Brit couldn’t do the same on George Russell ahead. He eventually got the better of him due to better pace, but by then the Top 2 were far ahead.
A strategy call helped Norris to jump Piastri after the Brit stayed out for long and pitted under the Virtual Safety Car. But a subsequent Safety Car dropped him behind the Australian again. There were radio calls from the Brit to think about scenarios to take on Verstappen.
The likely urge was to allow Norris through to try and pass Verstappen as Piastri was on worn tyres. Things stayed the same on re-start and by the time the Brit managed to pass the Australian, the Dutchman had enough gap to see-through a good win.
Norris noted that there were no direct discussions on team orders and it was evident after listening the communication. “No,” said the Brit when asked about radio discussions under safety car about handling Piastri. “Yep. No. There’s nothing. I mean, it was a good battle between us. I was just on the fresher tyres, so I was always going to have that slight advantage on him.
“And, yeah, just with the DRS, I managed to have a good last couple corners. I knew that was going to be probably my, not my one chance, but you saw once I passed him how easy it was to pull away. It was clear he was just struggling with the tyres, which I think everyone did quite a lot of today. It was a close one.
“I don’t know how close we got into Turn 1, but we’re both racing, we both want to beat one another, and it was good that we could race close like that. I don’t know [about touch]. Like I said, I don’t know how close we got,” summed up Norris, who expanded on the race overall where he managed to cut the gap to points leader Piastri. The pass on Russell was crucial as well to get on the podium, where he was certain to finish pre-race.
“I mean, it’s probably the best result I thought we could really achieve,” said Norris. “I probably just didn’t expect the Red Bull to be quite as quick as they were. I’m happy with second. From fourth, it was a good race. But, yeah, Max was too fast. It was a fun one. I mean, it’s with George, and I could tell he was struggling with the tyres a lot.
“It’s just a situation you got to take advantage of. I mean, it’s always risky. You never want to take too much risk, but we’re also racing. And he’s a fair racer. He’s a good racer. So, some good moves. Overall, it didn’t really feel great anywhere, to be honest. It didn’t feel wonderful to drive. But sometimes it doesn’t, and you’re just quick. So it’s a little bit difficult to say.
“It’s just a very bumpy track. A lot of these high-speed corners, where we seem to maybe struggle a bit comparing to the Red Bulls. That’s where we’ve suffered the whole season so far, the high-speed corners. So we have to work in that area, and maybe that’s proved to hurt us a little bit more this weekend. But we said it from the beginning that we have to keep working hard.
“Max has outqualified us several times, and their pace just converted today onto Sunday. Sometimes they’ve been ahead, but their pace on Sunday has not been too strong. They’ve maybe worked on some things, and their pace was better today. That’s the price we pay for not being quick enough,” summed up Norris, as team principal Andrea Stella conceded that Verstappen was too quick eventually.
They had scenarios to beat the Dutchman, but nothing worked against the pace. “We attempted to unlock various scenarios to try and beat Max, but at no stage I think we saw that we had enough race pace,” he said.
“Even with the final safety car, Lando could pass Oscar and try to push as much as possible, pretty much Max was responding to Lando. So here to overtake you need seven, eight tenths of a second, so I think it’s what it is. The main factor remains the swap of position and the outcome of lap one.”
Here’s race start: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-emilia-romagna-grand-prix-verstappen-takes-the-lead-on-the-race-start-with-stunning-move-on-piastri.1832464325975929447
Here’s McLaren fight: https://www.formula1.com/en/video/2025-emilia-romagna-grand-prix-norris-fights-his-way-past-title-rival-piastri-for-p2.1832473903985690409
Here’s Oscar Piastri, Andrea Stella on Imola GP loss
Here’s how F1 Imola GP panned out