Christian Horner and Toto Wolff found themselves in rare agreement as the rival team principals hailed the extraordinary progress of Lando Norris and McLaren over the past 12 months and declared the Briton a contender for the title.
Max Verstappen won the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola for Red Bull on Sunday but was chased down in the final laps by Norris, who finished 0.7sec behind and believed he could have taken the win with one or two more laps.
Norris won the round before, in Miami, and with the upgrades McLaren brought there now applied to both cars they also returned fourth place at Imola for Norris’s teammate, Oscar Piastri. They looked to have outpaced Ferrari as the second-quickest team and are nipping at Red Bull’s heels
Red Bull team boss Horner believes McLaren are now their biggest rivals for the title following the stunning reversal of fortunes. “They were probably the main competition the last few races,” he said. “They have definitely improved the performance of the car and taken a step forward. So we expect them to be competitive on all tracks.”
I think McLaren has entered the title race When asked, Horner said the same thing. “You can’t take anything for granted. We never are. The margins are very good,” he said. “It will definitely come to an end in the third year of this rule. That’s exactly what we’re seeing as the appearance and performance of cars begin to merge. We will see more races like Sunday’s with very good margins.”
Horner’s words were echoed by his Mercedes colleague Wolff, an unusual turn of events given the two sides are usually locked in a war of words. became. “It’s a great recovery story considering the situation at McLaren 12 months ago,” he said. “We have to respect what they have achieved and more competition at the top is good for the sport.”
“I don’t look at this with envy.On the contrary, I look at this and think that since they achieved it, this is what we have to achieve.
McLaren has made significant progress since this time last year. At the beginning of 2023, they started with a car that missed their aerodynamic targets and was completely off the pace, with Norris finishing 17th in the first two races.
However, a series of mid-season upgrades put them in contention for podium places, and the latest upgrade is another step forward as they further develop that design philosophy this year. They consolidated their position at the front of the grid.
Wolff’s Mercedes team still has a long way to go to catch up with Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari, with George Russell and Lewis Hamilton finishing sixth and seventh at Imola. Your car is still difficult to optimize and difficult to drive.