After the brilliant victory in Miami, McLaren arrives in Imola full of enthusiasm and aiming to solidify its role as a frontrunner in the battle at the top. But the Santerno circuit could expose the MCL39’s one real Achilles’ heel: qualifying.
In a season where Andrea Stella’s team has shown enviable consistency, the one off-note has come on Saturdays. So far, pole positions have been almost exclusively secured by Max Verstappen, with only occasional appearances from Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli in Sprint races. While Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri have been strong performers in the races, they’ve often had to recover from suboptimal grid positions.
On a track like Imola, historically stingy when it comes to overtaking and technically demanding, starting further back often means compromising much of the weekend. Lando Norris is well aware of this, stating that he’s “excited to start the European season” but fully knows that Saturday will be key: “The car is in good shape and I’m ready,” he said.
Oscar Piastri shares the same energy, highlighting the importance of their current momentum: “I’m heading to Imola with a lot of positivity and confidence, but also with the determination to keep pushing. It’s an old-school circuit with iconic corners like Acque Minerali and Piratella, and I’m looking forward to tackling it with the MCL39. I’ve got a good amount of momentum behind me and I’m extremely focused ahead of this first race of the European tour.”
Team Principal Andrea Stella keeps the focus on the group: “After a very successful weekend for the team in Miami, we now head to Imola for the start of the triple-header and our first European race of the season. The Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix is always a great event, and the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari is a fascinating challenge. We’re looking forward to testing our performance and technical setup on such a demanding track.” It’s an event that, however, could severely punish any slip-ups in qualifying.
McLaren undoubtedly arrives as the favourite, but Imola could prove a tougher test than those that came before.
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