Button identifies F1 key weakness for “exceptional” Norris

Norris has emerged as one of F1’s star performers in recent seasons.

He dismantled Daniel Ricciardo in 2021 and 2022 before leading McLaren’s resurgence last year.

While Norris did impress in 2023, he did show a few moments of fragility, particularly in qualifying.

He threw away pole in Qatar - when teammate Oscar Piastri took the win in the sprint - leading to intense self-criticism.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Button explained why he thinks Norris is too critical of himself at times.

“Lando is an extreme talent, he really is,” Button said.

“I’ve watched him since the first time he turned an F1 steering wheel, which was in Hungary, because I was racing for the team at the time.

“And it’s amazing how quickly he got to grips with it. But also, he’s a real thinker and sometimes that hurts him because he looks at himself too much and worries that he’s not good enough.

“But he is. He’s exceptional and I can't wait to see him in equipment that can fight for victories. But I'm not sure when that's going to come.”

Button famously didn’t win a race in F1 up until 2006, six years after his debut.

Norris is entering his seventh year in the sport and has still not stood on the top step.

“It’s tough with the way that it is, with having such a dominant driver, team, that only one guy can win,” he said.

“You know if you can be second to that it’s a good starting point. But you hope it doesn’t go on forever.

“He’s not going to leave the sport because he’s not won a race. So he’s going to stay there and he’s going to keep fighting for those victories and that want isn’t going to go away and that drive isn’t going to go either.

“He’s still got to beat his team-mate. He’s still got to beat all the other guys on the grid.

“It’s painful when there’s such a dominant team for so many years but it changes.

“We’ve seen it change with Mercedes. I didn’t think anyone was going to beat them in the next 10 years, but they did. Red Bull came in and they’ve beaten them. So it happens.”