Jenson Button explains how Lando Norris ‘surprised’ him during private chat after the Miami Grand Prix, ‘little mishap’

McLaren driver Lando Norris might have taken a first and second-place finish at the Miami Grand Prix before the weekend started.

Unfortunately for Lando Norris, his victory came in the Sprint Race, before he gave up more points to McLaren teammate Oscar Piastri during Sunday’s Miami Grand Prix.

It means Piastri now has a 16-point advantage heading into another short break in the F1 calendar before the second triple-header of the year.

The drivers’ championship is the ultimate goal for Norris and Piastri given the impressive lead McLaren have already built up in the team standings.

Both drivers have strengths and weaknesses, although Jenson Button has noticed Piastri taking a step forward this year compared to his first two seasons on the grid.

Norris continues to make small errors during race weekends that are having a much greater impact on his championship chances than he might have realised at the beginning of the year.

On this occasion, while he benefitted from the safety car coming out in the Sprint Race to leapfrog Piastri, team principal Andrea Stella was critical of Norris’ tactics against Max Verstappen on the opening lap of Sunday’s race.

It allowed Piastri and Andrea Kimi Antonelli to go past him, and while he eventually found his way past all of McLaren’s rivals, he handed the Australian too much of an advantage to complete a Miami-winning double.

READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

Jenson Button lauds Lando Norris’ positively despite missing out on Miami Grand Prix victory

Button conducted the interviews with the top three drivers after the race in Miami, and Norris clearly wasn’t as happy as Piastri and George Russell.

Piastri struggled in the final stint more than his teammate, but that only emphasises how critical Norris’ opening lap error and the time it took him to overtake Verstappen was in deciding the outcome of the race.

Speaking on Sky Sports F1 (4/5 11:04 pm) Button explained what Norris was like after the cameras went away and said, “It’s always difficult when you’re complimenting the winner and his teammate’s next to him, and the guy who thinks that he should have won.

“But, I have to say, amazing job by Oscar this weekend. As soon as he gets in the lead, he is formidable, he just controls the race and it’s really extraordinary to watch.

“Lando, on the other hand, we had the little mishap through turn two, but after that, his pace was unbelievable.

“And the thing that surprised me most is that he didn’t seem that downbeat when I spoke to him during the interview and post-interview, he wasn’t as downbeat as I expected him to be.

“He knows that turn two cost him the race, but, he knows his pace is there and his time will come.”

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Lando Norris needs to learn from Oscar Piastri in Max Verstappen’s battles

Even though Verstappen doesn’t appear to be a key protagonist in the drivers’ championship battle this year, he’s still having a massive influence on what’s going on above him in the standings.

Martin Brundle compared Verstappen to Michael Schumacher with his driving technique while battling Piastri.

He defended superbly before Piastri forced him to out-brake himself and cede the lead of the race going into turn one.

Norris, on the other hand, kept hanging his car around the outside of his Red Bull, allowing Verstappen to continuously close the door on the Brit.

As a result, Norris has been told to copy Piastri’s technique to overtake Verstappen, as the Australian appears to be more assertive when they go wheel-to-wheel.

Verstappen has been very positive about Piastri but hasn’t spoken out about Norris in the same way.

The change Button has seen in Norris recently at least suggests he’s not beating himself up as much as he used to about not being perfect throughout a race weekend.