McLaren’s uplift has coincided with a major aerodynamic upgrade that was fitted to Norris’ car in its entirety in Miami. Piastri, who had half the upgrade in Florida, had the full package in Imola.
It seemed to confirm McLaren as Red Bull’s closest challengers despite Ferrari, who finished third with Charles Leclerc, also having a major upgrade package.
Verstappen said: “You can see, of course, it’s clearly very close now. I had a bit more pace on the medium (tyre), but then I didn’t have that pace on the hard. And at the end of the day, we basically came over the line like we almost started the race. It was incredibly close.”
Norris said McLaren had further progress to make before they could consistently beat Red Bull, but said he thought it might be possible at certain circuits even now.
“I don’t think we’re at their level just yet,” Norris said. “As we saw today, they still have areas where they’re better and maybe some areas where we are better now, which is a good sign.
“But yeah, I think there’s going to be tracks where we can be stronger. I’m still looking forward to a couple of those tracks, but there’s going to be some where we’re a little bit off still.
“So we’re working on those places, and if we work and improve on them as much as we have the rest of the car, then I’m excited that we can definitely continue to fight them in more races.”
That is likely a reference to races such as Austria and Silverstone, which are at the end of June and beginning of July. Before that, F1 goes to Monaco next weekend, followed by races in Canada and Spain.
However, it is one thing to challenge Verstappen and another to beat him. Imola was perhaps the Dutchman’s best race of the season.
It was not a track that played to the strengths of the Red Bull, and the team were struggling badly in Friday practice.
They made a big step forward thanks to some hard work by their reserve driver Sebastien Buemi in the simulator on Friday night, but Verstappen’s pole – apart from the tow – appeared to be more about driver than car. His team-mate Sergio Perez being down in 11th on the grid underlined this.
Crucially, Verstappen then won the start, which meant he could manage his own race and look after his tyres, while Norris overheated his behind the Red Bull and progressively dropped back.
Both men drove exquisitely, but Verstappen’s obvious delight and relief spoke volumes, while Norris was ruing what he realised was an opportunity missed not through any fault of his own, just by circumstances.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said: “The pace Max had in the first stint on mediums was just superior to us.
“Red Bull had a very good car but today we also see the skills of the driver who won the race. We have proved we can be there and knock at the door of victories in a weekend when at some stage it looked like Ferrari had the fastest car and then Max appeared to. It was important we were there.
“Between a McLaren and a Red Bull today there wasn’t much to pick, and some other factors made the difference.
“Being in the clear air seemed to play a big factor. So, any time you had backmarkers you lost pace. And being ahead in the first corner you have the free air that allows you to manage the tyres in a certain way and manage your own pace.
“Max did a good job yesterday in being pole and first at the first corner and this paid off today in managing the tyres.”