Sporting a bandage on his nose from a recent wild celebration and having been penalized 25,000 euros for darting across the track following a sprint race incident in Miami, Lando Norris nonetheless clinched his first Formula 1 victory on Sunday.
The 24-year-old's win was partly due to the opportune arrival of the safety car, with La Gazzetta dello Sport criticizing the FIA for its decision, claiming it "got it wrong" and contravened its own protocols regarding the safety car's placement within the field of cars.
Max Verstappen, however, brushed off speculative scenarios with a light-hearted comment, "If my mum had balls, she would be my dad."
Despite suspicions from Red Bull team principal Christian Horner that Verstappen might have sustained damage from colliding with a bollard, the three-time world champion was skeptical of that explanation for the end of his winning streak.
"When I heard what Lando's laptimes were, I knew it was going to be a difficult day," he remarked.
Meanwhile, Norris benefited from the latest upgrades to his car, with McLaren CEO Zak Brown detailing that Norris was driving the 'B version' of McLaren's 2024 model.
"We have made a huge step forward," Brown stated, adding that Oscar Piastri will get the full package next time out in Imola.
Verstappen acknowledged the performance of the McLaren, saying, "The McLaren was incredible today. They had an upgrade that obviously worked. But if a bad day is P2, I take it, right?"
Charles Leclerc, who finished third, hoped for rapid improvements from Ferrari: "Hopefully we can bring the upgrades very quickly and catch up."
Ferrari's team leader Frederic Vasseur confirmed that new components are anticipated for the upcoming race at Imola, predicting, "We're taking them (Red Bull) out of their comfort zone more and more often," and adding, "And then a safety car is enough for McLaren to win. That was different last year, when anything could happen and Red Bull would still win."
Red Bull also plans to introduce car upgrades at Imola in two weeks.
"We have a bit of work to do from our side," Verstappen conceded. "It definitely wasn't our strongest weekend in terms of race pace, but we'll analyze it all and try to come back stronger from it."
