Keeping his cool as he secured pole position in Monaco, Jenson Button says there would’ve been a “lot of emotion in that car” from Lando Norris as he shrugged off his qualifying hoodoo.

And Button would know, as he admits it was his “biggest weakness” especially when he was team-mates with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

Jenson Button: It is tough. It really does hurt you

Norris went into Saturday’s qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix chasing only his second pole position of an F1 2025 campaign littered with qualifying mistakes.

By his own admission, he has made a “lot of mistakes”, leading to disparaging comments in which he has called himself “clueless” and a “f**king idiot”.

The pressure, said Ralf Schumacher in the build-up to Saturday’s all-important session, was on.

“The pressure on the driver is much, much higher,” he told Sky Deutschland. “That means someone who is mentally having a hard time getting this to the point is a little more scared here, I say, to make a mistake [and] to go to the limit.”

Norris not only rose to the challenge, he conquered it.

The McLaren driver laid down a record-breaking 1:09.954 to beat local favourite Charles Leclerc by a tenth of a second.

More on Lando Norris’ pole position in Monaco

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But you wouldn’t have thought he’d bagged his first pole position since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix as he kept his cool, telling McLaren: “Yeah, all good. Thank you guys.”

Button reckons there was a lot more going on in that car at the moment than Norris revealed.

“First of all, I think there would have been a lot of emotion in that car, because that’s such a big deal,” he told Sky F1.

“One for the Monaco Grand Prix, you know Saturdays are so important here to put on pole, but also for the championship. I think this puts him in a good place.

“His confidence is lifted, and he needs that. He’s had a rough run when it comes to qualifying.”

Asked if he’d experienced a similar moment in his career when he ‘just couldn’t figure it out on a Saturday’, Button admitted that was his biggest weakness especially during his McLaren days against Hamilton and also Alonso.

Hamilton holds the record for the most pole positions ever in Formula 1 at 104, while Alonso has secured 22. Button managed just eight and says it “hurt” struggling against his team-mates on Saturdays.

“That was my biggest weakness,” admitted the 2009 World Champion, “especially when I was up against people like Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, who pretty much seemed to always get the best out of the car.

“So it is tough. It really does hurt you. Whether other people are noticing or not, you know it deep down inside.

“So I mean, what a weight off his shoulders, and this is an exciting time for him.

“This is a moment where he can probably think, ‘I still am in this game, this fight for the championship’.”

Norris lines up on the Monaco grid ahead of Charles Leclerc and his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, the latter 13 points ahead in the Drivers’ standings.

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