Jenson Button shares which footage Lando Norris needs to study to beat Max Verstappen in 2025

Lando Norris missed out on the 2024 world championship as his rival Max Verstappen claimed his fourth consecutive title in Las Vegas.

The McLaren driver had been the Dutchman’s closest challenger as he found himself with the fastest package on the grid after Red Bull saw a huge slump in their performance.

Claiming three victories across the season, the Brit ultimately failed to capitalise on his new-found advantage over his rival.

Norris made several mistakes that cost him points throughout the year, with the Sao Paulo Grand Prix destroying any hopes he had of winning the championship. As the Brit slid off the track in the torrential rain and finished sixth, Verstappen commanded the field to win from 17th, later confirming the title in Las Vegas.

Norris blamed a six-year graining issue at McLaren at the race in Nevada as he could not do anything to prevent Verstappen from grabbing his fourth title, finishing just behind him in sixth.

The duo came to blows several times throughout the season, with the incidents in Austin and Mexico City being a huge talking point. Verstappen’s aggressive defence of the inside line has proven difficult to beat, even if he does go over the limit as he did in Mexico.

But after racing against the Dutchman in 2024, Jenson Button outlined the footage that Norris will be studying during the off-season to gain an advantage over his rival.

Jenson Button says Lando Norris will study footage from his races against Max Verstappen to prepare for 2025

Next season is anticipated to be a dramatic year, with McLaren eager to put more pressure on Red Bull before the new technical regulations come into effect in 2026.

Lawrence Barretto says Norris will change the way Verstappen drives next season as he will have learned a lot from competing against him for the title across a full campaign.

The 2009 champion Button echoed the same thoughts on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, and he is ‘really excited’ to see a ‘slightly different’ Norris in 2025 as he puts his winter break preparations into practice.

“He would have learnt a lot of how to race Max this year. Max is aggressive, he pushes it to the limit, sometimes over the limit as we saw in Mexico,” he said.

“But he would have learnt a lot and I am really excited to see a slightly different Lando next year. He will be studying every bit of footage that he has from this season, the races and against Max.

“And he will come out much stronger next year and we’ll see a different Lando I think, which is good. It’s all learning, until you’ve gone up against someone like Max, you don’t know how you’re going to react.”

McLaren can still win a title in 2024

It was always a long shot for Norris to come away with the drivers’ championship in 2024. But McLaren team principal Andrea Stella was ‘a bit depressed’ after Las Vegas as hopelessly watched Verstappen win the title.

Nevertheless, the Woking-based outfit are still in contention for silverware as they currently lead the Constructors’ Championship with two races to go.

McLaren are 24 points ahead of Ferrari heading into Qatar. The Maranello squad took a chunk out of their rivals’ lead as they finished third and fourth in Las Vegas.

Red Bull are 29 points further back in third, largely due to Sergio Perez being unable to score consistent points at the front of the field. Rudy van Buren says Red Bull ‘can’t just rely’ on Verstappen next season as the likes of McLaren and Ferrari have caught up and arguably have better performance heading into 2025.

McLaren’s consistent results through their drivers Norris and Oscar Piastri have given them the advantage in the standings. The team will be desperate to bring home their first constructors’ title since 1998.