IMOLA – McLaren fans will be hoping Miami Grand Prix winner Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri can again challenge Red Bull and Max Verstappen, as well as Ferrari, when Imola kicks off the European Formula One season this weekend.

Norris’ long-overdue first race victory has created a fresh buzz that maybe dominant three-time world champion Verstappen will face more of a fight for the remaining three-quarters of the campaign.

Even if Imola is Ferrari territory, and a home race for Red Bull’s Faenza-based second team RB, McLaren have done well there in the past.

Brazilian great Ayrton Senna, who won his three titles with McLaren and died at Imola 30 years ago in a Williams, had a record eight poles at the circuit and won three times.

“I’m heading to Imola as a race winner, which feels good,” said Norris. “We’re now back to head down, fully focused on the next race and how we can make further improvements. It’s been two years since we raced at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, but we’re ready to head back.”

Piastri will be racing at the Italian circuit near Bologna for the first time, but with the full upgrade package that only Norris had in Miami.

Verstappen – who leads the standings on 136 points and 33 ahead of teammate Sergio Perez – has won the past two races at Imola, with the 2023 edition cancelled due to devastating flooding in the region.

He will again fancy his chances as Formula One returns to traditional territory after successive sprint weekends in Miami and China.

The Dutch driver has won four of the six races so far and can match French great Alain Prost’s record of starting a season with seven successive poles.

“We have had some great team results here and it is always interesting to race at a really old-school track like this,” he said. “It’s nice to be back racing in Europe again too, so we are looking forward to seeing what the weekend brings.”

Ferrari, who won in Australia with Carlos Sainz, will be bringing their first upgrade package of the year and are sounding confident.

“As usual, we can expect a very closely fought contest with our competitors, which means that doing a good job of fine-tuning the car set-up can be as important as any benefit the upgrades might bring,” cautioned team boss Fred Vasseur.

Mercedes will be starting their 300th championship grand prix and also have some updates.

“The first six races have not been straightforward, but we have built a clear understanding of where we need to improve and shaped a clear path forward to tackle that,” said team principal Toto Wolff.

“It will be several races before we see this bear fruit, but everyone is working hard to bring them soon.”

There will be tributes to Senna and Austrian Roland Ratzenberger, who also died over the terrible 1994 weekend, with retired four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel doing demonstration runs in the Brazilian’s 1993 McLaren.

Ferrari Trento, who provide the sparkling wine for the podium celebrations, will bring a special Jereboam-sized bottle to be auctioned in aid of the Ayrton Senna Institute after the contents are sprayed by the top three drivers. REUTERS