Max Verstappen and Lando Norris talk.
Lando Norris believes anyone counting Max Verstappen and Red Bull out at Imola was “a bit stupid” after the Dutchman maintained his 100 per cent pole position record.
Last time at the Miami Grand Prix, Verstappen appeared poised to secure a victory, which would have marked his fifth win of the season as the leader in the championship. However, Norris managed to create a significant upset by capitalizing on the Safety Car’s timing. He skillfully pulled away from Verstappen after the restart, securing his first-ever Formula 1 race win.
Lando Norris says doubting Max Verstappen ‘bit stupid’
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
After Norris achieved that outcome in the extensively upgraded McLaren, the focus turned to Imola where Red Bull made their initial move in the F1 2024 development battle with their revised RB20. Initially, things didn’t look promising for Red Bull as Verstappen struggled to secure a top three position during practice sessions, describing his short and long run performance as “terrible”.
However, his fortunes took a dramatic turn during qualifying. Verstappen dominated all three sessions, securing pole position, although McLaren’s Oscar Piastri and Norris were keeping him on edge, both coming within a tenth of a second of his fastest lap.
Norris thinks McLaren has a potential for a great race at Imola. However, he straightforwardly pointed out that those who anticipated Verstappen’s downfall are simply lacking intelligence.
Piastri’s three-place grid penalty for obstructing Kevin Magnussen in Q1 has resulted in Norris being promoted to the front row for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
When questioned by various media outlets, including PlanetF1.com, about his confidence in achieving another Miami victory despite Verstappen’s worries about his race pace, Norris responded, “It’s a challenging situation. Overtaking is incredibly difficult here, particularly with such narrow gaps.”
However, it’s true that you often seize opportunities to benefit from other people’s mistakes and struggles. Despite how negative it may seem, you actively exploit these situations.
“I’m not sure, Max had a bit of a tough weekend, but if anyone had any doubts about Red Bull or his ability to perform well in qualifying, they’re a little foolish.”
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“Yeah, we were anticipating them to bounce back and frustrate us by surpassing him in qualifying once more. However, we are in close proximity and satisfied with our team’s overall performance. If we can maintain a robust race pace tomorrow, similar to what we had yesterday and in Miami, then I believe we can all anticipate a successful race.”
On Sunday, Verstappen aims to secure his third consecutive victory at Imola.
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