"One or two more laps and I think I would have had him," says Lando Norris after failing to overhaul Max Verstappen for Imola win.

It was close, very close, but in his pursuit of the world champion the Miami winner, having got the gap down from 8 seconds at the end of the opening stint, Norris was unable to get within DRS range of the struggling Dutchman.

Crossing the line 0.725s behind the Red Bull, Norris claimed that given another couple of laps he could have overhauled his foe.

"It hurts me to say, but one or two more laps and I think I would have had him," he said at race end. "It's tough, a shame, but I fought hard right until the very last lap.

"I just lost out a little bit too much to Max in the beginning," he added. "He was much better in the first stint. And obviously in the second stint we were stronger.

"But yeah, it just was a tough first half and a much better second half... one or two more laps would have been beautiful, but just not today."

However, team boss, Andrea Stella isn't convinced that another two laps would have paid off.

"63 laps is already many laps, many times you say you would like one lap more," he told Sky Sports. "It is what it is and also it is Max Verstappen, I am sure he was a bit in trouble but he managed to get the most out of what he had, so well done Max and well done to our two drivers, second and fourth.

"We actually lost too much time in the first stint behind Max," he admitted, "we had too much rear degradation and we thought actually today was about watching the mirrors more than watching ahead of us.

"After a period on the hard tyres in which we saved the tyres, while Leclerc and Oscar were fighting each other, I think this initial investment paid dividends towards the end of the race for Lando. Managing the budget of the tyres was an important factor and we have to say from this point of view Lando has become a bit of a master."

Explaining his own race of two halves, Norris said: "We were expecting it to be a little bit colder today than what it was, so we kind of set up the car more for colder conditions rather than hot. "I think I paid the price in general. So that's why I had to do so much of an introduction to the tyres and kind of bring them up so gently and look after them. Because if I didn't, I just would have fallen off a cliff like the others did.

"So my only chance was to drive my race and that meant being under pressure from Charles for more laps than I would have liked. But as soon as I kind of cleared the traffic and got back into my own rhythm, then I felt good with the car. The tyres kind of came back to me and I could push and I was happy. So from then on, the pace was amazing. And it's a good sign. It's always a good thing to have is good race pace.

"Clearly when it's hotter and there's more degradation to the rear tyres, we start to struggle a lot more. And it's something we know and maybe we could have prepared for a little bit more. But nevertheless, I'm happy with the outcome.

"Hopefully, it continues like that," he grinned, "because it's exciting, it's tough, and it gets you excited every weekend. I'm looking forward to the next few."

Check out our Sunday gallery from Imola here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 21/05/2024 11:58

"@mad Matt....yes, I agree with you. I certainly don't mind Max as he's a totally dedicated driver who I find brutally honest and personable when out of the the influences of Jos Verstappen!.Fortunately he's [ Jos ] pulled his head in somewhat of late and things are still travelling well despite his forecast of an imminent collapse of Red Bull. What we now need is for more pressure being applied by MacLaren and Ferrari for a bonza rest of season."

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2. Posted by Mad Matt, 20/05/2024 8:52

"I read him quoted elsewhere as saying "...like one more lap, at least he would have had to defend into Turn 1, and maybe something could have come from that, but one lap too late." perhpas once the excietment had camled down but it seems a more realistic assesment.

Either way it was nice to see Max have to work for it :-)"

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Norris needed "one or two more laps"

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