• British driver pushed Verstappen for victory at Imola
• ‘We expect them to be competitive at all circuits,’ says Horner

Christian Horner and Toto Wolff found themselves in rare agreement as the rival team principals hailed the extraordinary progress of Lando Norris and McLaren over the past 12 months and declared the Briton a contender for the title.

Max Verstappen won the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola for Red Bull on Sunday but was chased down in the final laps by Norris, who finished 0.7sec behind and believed he could have taken the win with one or two more laps.

• World champion equals Senna record of eight straight poles
• Oscar Piastri demoted to fifth so Lando Norris second on grid

Max Verstappen had to pull off a comeback he believed was the best he had managed for more than five years to claim pole position for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, delivering a suitably superb lap under immense pressure that raised him to stand alongside Ayrton Senna with a record eighth consecutive pole.

In the year of the 30th anniversary of Senna’s death at Imola, Verstappen had to dig deep to deliver, after a torrid weekend during which he and Red Bull have struggled with the car’s grip and balance.