Lando Norris not fooled by McLaren’s advantage at Imola: ‘They always catch up’

Lando Norris is refusing to get carried away by McLaren’s dominant start to the F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

Oscar Piastri and Norris finished 1-2 in both Friday practice sessions at Imola, continuing their impressive start to the 2025 F1 season.

McLaren have won five of the opening six races and will be the team to beat again this weekend.

Last time out in Miami, the two McLarens finished over 30 seconds ahead of George Russell in third, with the hotter track temperatures playing into the strengths of the MCL39.

While conditions are cooler at Imola, McLaren’s advantage is still significant.

Without a mistake in the final sector - and then traffic into the final corner - Piastri was on course to top the session by around 0.2s.

However, a common trend throughout this year is that McLaren’s advantage diminishes in qualifying relative to practice.

Reflecting on Friday at Imola, Norris expects McLaren’s rivals to close in as the weekend progresses.

“I think pretty happy today,” Norris said. “A difficult track to just get in the rhythm of things. It’s fast. This is a track all about timing and getting everything perfect, which is not easy to do when you’re going at the speeds that we do.

“Therefore a fun day, we made some improvements and hopefully some more to come for tomorrow.

“I’m sure he [Piastri’s] going to find things too. FP2 we always look good, we always look better than everyone and then we get to qualifying and they catch up. So I don’t think we are in a comfortable place, we still have work to do.

“Alpine were quick, they have always been quick here. I’m sure Red Bull will catch up and Mercedes will be on it just when they turn their engines up. So nothing to be comfortable by. But I think a productive Friday.”

Piastri echoes Norris

Dirty air is more prominent in 2025 due to the maturity of the regulations and cars producing more downforce, so there’s a greater emphasis on qualifying.

Piastri conceded that while beating Norris in qualifying is important, there will likely be external competition for pole position.

“Yes. I mean Saturday has been very important pretty much everywhere this year,” Piastri explained.

“Imola, I think regardless of what the rest of the year looks like, qualifying means a lot. That is going to be important.

“At the moment I don’t think it’s just Lando and I. There’s a few others will join us in the fight tomorrow. So we will have to keep our heads down and try and find a bit more.”