Why Jenson Button Thinks Lando Norris Is Set for a Breakthrough
It’s one thing to fight your way up the Formula 1 grid. It’s another to go head-to-head with Max Verstappen when the stakes are sky-high. That’s exactly where Lando Norris found himself throughout the 2024 F1 season. Sure, Verstappen clinched most of the headlines and trophies, but Norris didn’t just play second fiddle—he turned up the heat as the year’s most persistent challenger.
2009 World Champion Jenson Button has watched this back-and-forth closely and thinks we’re about to see a real transformation in Norris. In his eyes, the McLaren driver’s tough moments from 2024—especially his heated scraps with Verstappen—are setting the stage for a bolder, more strategic Norris in 2025.
The Key Battles That Shaped Norris
Norris showed this season that pure speed and natural racecraft aren’t problems. He proved he could stick with Verstappen, qualify near the front, and push hard on race day. But then came the rougher patches where experience and split-second judgment made all the difference.
Take the Brazilian Grand Prix: Verstappen started way back in 17th—the kind of position that would rattle almost any driver. Instead, he clawed his way to the front and took the win. Meanwhile, Norris, despite starting from pole, finished a frustrating sixth. If that wasn’t a lesson in unpredictable racing, nothing is.
Norris also got tangled up in controversy during the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin. While scrapping with Verstappen, Norris crossed track limits to overtake and picked up a penalty. These moments highlighted not only the razor-thin margins in Formula 1, but also the sort of ruthless approach Verstappen has mastered—and Norris is still learning.
Button thinks this is exactly where Norris can grow. It’s not about natural talent; it’s about how quickly he can adapt, learn from these bruising run-ins, and turn each setback into a weapon for next year’s campaign. Reviewing race footage, sharpening starts, and chasing consistency—these are the habits Button wants to see from Norris if he’s going to take the fight toe-to-toe with Verstappen every weekend.
And Button’s not talking theory. Watching the two drivers race wheel-to-wheel, it’s easy to spot where Norris can level up—less hesitation at the start, cleaner moves when it counts, and a bit more of that Verstappen-esque aggression to push through the tense moments when the championship is on the line.
Don’t forget, McLaren itself hit a new gear midway through the season. The upgrades paid off, often making Norris the fastest car not powered by Red Bull. Yet the results didn’t always match the pace as Norris missed out on a couple of surefire wins due to errors or a bit of bad luck.
Button’s argument is simple: having a super-quick McLaren is great, but Norris now has to extract every ounce from the car and himself. That means ironing out mid-race mistakes and learning when to risk it all and when to keep cool. Verstappen’s never-give-an-inch style is a tough masterclass, but Button’s convinced it’s only a matter of time before Norris cracks the code and shakes up the status quo in 2025.
