Lando Norris says Max Verstappen ‘clearly’ had one advantage over McLaren during post-race Imola radio message

Max Verstappen managed to claw back some of McLaren’s advantage in the 2025 Formula 1 title fight with a terrific performance in Imola.

Verstappen was in a ‘class of his own’ en route to his second victory of the season, which helped him reduce the deficit at the top of the drivers’ championship to just 22 points.

Red Bull’s Imola upgrades must have paid dividends in some form, as the Dutchman was able to hold a stable gap at the front throughout much of the race.

Verstappen was virtually unchallenged by both McLaren drivers, who were caught up in poor strategies and safety car incidents.

Piastri did something ‘confusing’ in Imola by adopting a two-stop strategy, which left him in plenty of midfield traffic and put him on the back foot.

Meanwhile, Verstappen has already identified Red Bull’s ‘biggest problem’ after introducing new upgrades this weekend, which have hurt their tyre management. It wasn’t enough to prevent them from winning.

READ MORE: Oscar Piastri delivers perfect four-word response on how he plans to battle Max Verstappen on track

Lando Norris thinks Max Verstappen and Red Bull ‘clearly’ had an advantage in Imola after radio message

Lando Norris finally managed to beat his teammate in a race, which was good for his title aspirations, but he may have been able to achieve more without an untimely virtual safety car early in the race.

However, speaking on his radio after the race, he didn’t feel as if his team had enough pace to challenge Verstappen in the first place.

“Well done, good race. Clearly not had the pace today. Let’s keep pushing. A lovely start but not quick enough to win,” he said.

Speaking to David Coulthard beneath the podium after the race, he repeated the idea that Red Bull were too quick in Italy.

“It was a long race. Not easy to overtake, but we did what we could. Max drove a good race and we couldn’t keep up,” said Norris.

“We had a good little battle at the end between Oscar and myself which was tense, but always good fun. A good race. For us as a team, second and third is great. Of course you would love to be up there fighting against Max but they were too good for us today.”

READ MORE: Max Verstappen names the one thing rapid Lando Norris still needs to prove in Formula 1

Have Red Bull actually managed to close the gap to McLaren in the F1 title fight?

Red Bull’s biggest long-term issue may not turn out to be a car-related problem, and more of a personnel one.

McLaren are going in to battle with two cars every week, while Red Bull are still waiting for Yuki Tsunoda to find some pace.

It means that Verstappen has little strategy flexibility and must fight completely by himself. It’s a tall order for him to defeat his rivals alone.

Verstappen has been ‘urged’ to do one thing and allow Piastri and Norris to fight and make the title battle difficult for McLaren.

That may open the door and be the most important ingredient in his pursuit of a fifth consecutive drivers’ title.