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McLaren CEO Zak Brown claimed that Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris did an "awesome job" despite finishing behind Red Bull driver Max Verstappen in the 2025 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday. Piastri started the race from pole position but lost the lead to Verstappen on the opening lap of the race, while Norris struggled to overtake the Dutchman later in the Grand Prix.
Norris got past his compatriot George Russell in the first half of the race but the delay in making the overtake put him substantially behind Verstappen and Piastri. However, owing to multiple stoppages, the 25-year-old was able to have fresher tires than his Aussie teammate and ultimately got past him to finish P2 behind the Red Bull driver.
On his official social media platform X, Brown was full of praise for his drivers as he wrote:
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"Double podium in Imola. Awesome work from Lando, Oscar, and the team both trackside and back home. Full focus now on Monaco."
In the Constructors' championship, the reigning world champions further extended their lead over Mercedes to 132 points after seven races and two Sprints in the 2025 season.
Former F1 world champion reacts to McLaren's double podium
Former F1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve stated that McLaren showed "weakness" in the 2025 Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix and claimed that the British team were afraid to be aggressive.
Speaking with Sky Sports after the race, the 1997 F1 world champion detailed McLaren's performance in Imola and said:
"They show weakness. Basically, they don't show the strength that Red Bull are always shown year after year. It's as if they're afraid to be aggressive in trying to win the drivers' championship, and they're afraid to go against Piastri. Piastri messed up that first corner. He got caught out sleeping. He should never have come out of the corner second, and then he didn't have the pace, which was odd."
"On the restart, McLaren knew that it was a matter of laps before Norris would have taken Piastri with the tyre difference, it was obvious. They seem to be happy with the second and third. McLaren has a car where a good weekend means first and second. Anything less is a bit disappointing. First and third is fairly acceptable, but they seem happy with second and third."
The British team has won five of the first seven races in the 2025 season and has claimed podiums in every competitive session thus far.
