Norris expecting ‘tough weekend’ at Imola as he suggests strong McLaren performance in Miami was a ‘nice surprise’

Lando Norris believes that he and McLaren could be in for a “tough weekend” at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, with the Briton insisting that the squad’s commanding performance last time out in Miami was a “nice surprise”.

After a strong start to the campaign for the reigning Teams’ Champions, the papaya outfit put in one of their strongest displays yet at the Miami International Autodrome as Oscar Piastri led home Norris in a 1-2 result.

READ MORE: Piastri downplays McLaren’s chances of repeating Miami dominance as he previews ‘incredibly different’ Imola challenge

Such was the pace of the MCL39 that Piastri crossed the line a whopping 37 seconds clear of Mercedes’ George Russell in third, strengthening his lead at the top of the Drivers' Championship in the process, while McLaren now have a sizeable 105-point advantage over the Silver Arrows in the Teams’ standings.

Despite this, Norris is anticipating that the squad will have less of an edge over their competitors for Round 7 on the calendar at Imola, a track that the Briton has previously scored three podium finishes at.

When asked on Thursday’s media day if he was expecting a repeat of McLaren’s Miami dominance this weekend, Norris initially joked: “I hope so! That'll be lovely, make my life easier.

“No, I think Miami just went very, very well. I think our pace was probably a little bit of a surprise, just how strong we were on Sunday, but a nice surprise.

READ MORE: ‘To already be at this pace is very impressive’ – Verstappen and Norris heap praise on Antonelli after rookie’s Miami display

“I expect it to probably return a little bit more back to how it's been, which is us having a small advantage but still being tight with our main competition. We're still expecting a tough weekend, it's just a good surprise if things go better than that.”

While he proved victorious in the Sprint last time out in Miami, Norris was unable to add a second Grand Prix win of the season to his name, with his last triumph on a Sunday coming at the season-opening race in Australia.

Piastri, meanwhile, claimed a fourth consecutive P1 result – but Norris is not concerned by this, instead praising the team work between himself and the Australian as they continue to learn from one another each weekend.

“It's a good thing,” Norris said of Piastri’s run of victories. “It's obviously not a dream scenario, but Oscar is doing a very good job and I can't fault him for that. But that's his thing, and I've got to focus on myself and keep focusing on what I can do better.

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“I know there are things I'm working on to improve and to raise my level and to make sure I win some more races, so it's a good thing. We're learning from each other every weekend, it’s what makes us really strong.

"I push Oscar a lot, Oscar pushes me a lot, and we end up being a very strong team. For me it's a good thing. There's pros and cons, I guess, but I'm happy about it.”