Lando Norris walked away from Sunday’s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix with a hard-fought second place, satisfied with his race-day execution but openly reflective about where he’s leaving performance on the table.
The McLaren driver once again showed his racecraft and resilience at Imola, but his comments after the race focused less on the podium result and more on his personal struggle with qualifying – a trend that is increasingly defining his 2025 campaign.
The race featured a clean but tense intra-team battle between Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri, who still leads the drivers’ championship despite finishing behind Norris and race winner Max Verstappen on Sunday.
The Briton, armed with fresher hard tyres in the final stint, managed to outduel his teammate without team orders getting in the way.
“I was on a better tyre but I didn’t expect anything,” Norris told Sky Sports at Imola. “We still had a tough fight. It was close into Turn 1. I lose time, through that, and he loses time.
“But it’s what we have to do, to battle for a championship. If you try to make someone happy, the other is unhappy. It’s the way it is. We handled it well, a good job by the team.”
"The best we could achieve"
The respectful, hard-fought duel underlined the ethos at McLaren this season – let the drivers race.
With Piastri having won the previous three rounds, Norris was eager to claw back points, and his runner-up finish at Imola now puts him 13 points adrift in the standings.
Despite coming second to Verstappen – who ended Piastri’s winning streak in supreme fashion – Norris saw the result as the maximum possible outcome on the day.
“Second was the best we could achieve. Max was fast, the Red Bull was quick,” he admitted.
“We didn’t have an answer for them, even in the final stint. It was a long race. A lot of options came… and went. But I think second was the best we could do.
“I’m happy with that. Even if we started on pole, Max was too quick. Well done to them.”
Saturdays Still the Stumbling Block
While Sunday brought smiles and points, Norris did not shy away from confronting the area he believes is undermining his season: qualifying.
Despite consistently turning in strong race-day drives, Norris has too often found himself having to fight his way back through the field due to underwhelming Saturday performances.
“I am very happy with my Sundays. I have been for the whole season. I feel that I am strong,” he said. “But my Saturdays make my life difficult constantly.
“I always need to fight back, and take risks, with overtakes, and work harder than I need to.”
2025 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix - Race resultsPiastri has out-qualified Norris in four out of the six races so far this year – a stat that mirrors the championship gap and highlights just how costly Saturdays have been for the Brit.
“I am confident, happy, positive. But I’m not happy with my performances in qualifying,” Norris continued. “I am working on them but it still takes time. I’ll keep working.”
The issue is not one of race pace or strategy, as those aspects remain Norris’ strength, but rather in the execution during short, high-pressure qualifying sessions.
With Monaco looming, where grid position is notoriously crucial, solving this will be a high priority.
McLaren now leads the constructors' championship, with Red Bull 48 points behind and Mercedes—still winless in 2025—32 points adrift.
The Woking-based team has momentum, a strong car, and arguably the best driver pairing on the grid. If Norris can shore up his Saturdays, his Sundays might soon be even more fruitful.
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