McLaren expresses major surprise after pivotal Max Verstappen defeat

McLaren boss Andrea Stella has expressed the team's surprise at being defeated by Max Verstappen and Red Bull in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. 

Despite Oscar Piastri being on pole position, Verstappen stole the lead away at Turn 1 and led throughout the race, and also setting the fastest lap to win on Red Bull's 400th grand prix start, the second team to achieve that after Williams at the 2001 French GP. 

McLaren was expected to be strong at Imola given the track layout and the hot weather conditions, which echoed Miami, where it crushed the field in a one-two finish. 

However, Verstappen was able to display superior race pace, pulling away from the chasing Piastri, and then dropping the championship leader and Lando Norris after the safety car restart. 

Reflecting on the defeat, McLaren's first since Suzuka, Stella felt the upgrades delivered to the RB21 had had a positive effect immediately. 

"After coming from the race in Miami, where our pace was very strong, we knew that due to the track layout and the slightly different ambient conditions, this race would be more balanced," Stella told media including RacingNews365. 

"We knew that it would be very balanced in qualifying, like we saw in Saudi and in Japan, at this kind of fast-flowing circuit. 

"But I have to say we were a little surprised by the pace of the Red Bull, which was very competitive. 

"Well done to Max, well done to Red Bull for being able to pull off this kind of performance, which meant that the race was decided by the episode, or swap of positions, between Oscar and Max in corner one. 

"After that, we tried to chase him, but effectively, we didn't have enough race pace to be able to beat Max after he took the lead."