McLaren praised for getting the ‘most difficult thing in F1’ right after Lando Norris win

2009 F1 world champion Jenson Button has heaped praise on McLaren for nailing their correlation between wind tunnel and on track performance after their win at the Miami Grand Prix.

Lando Norris stormed to his maiden win in F1 on Sunday, finishing over seven seconds ahead of Max Verstappen.

While Norris inherited the lead due to the Safety Car, he was comfortably the fastest driver out on track, reeling off fastest laps with ease.

It continues a remarkable turnaround from McLaren, which 12 months ago, had the slowest car in F1.

A number of substantial upgrade packages, starting with Austria last year, has propelled McLaren from the midfield to regular podium finisher, to now race winner.

Button has explained why McLaren deserve a lot of credit for getting “the most difficult thing in F1” right.

“The correlation seems to be amazing at McLaren,” Button said. “The upgrades they had last year made a massive difference - it did what it said on the tin. That’s the most difficult thing in F1.

“Yes, you’ve got to have great people within the team but having that correlation, CFD, aero, simulations, track - massive. They have confidence in it all so they can keep building on that. I hope it works at other tracks,

“Hopefully it’s not track dependent here. Very different tracks, the next couple. I do hope it’s going to continue.”

McLaren introduced a significant upgrade in Miami, with rivals Ferrari set to do the same at Imola as they look to close the gap to Red Bull.

Assessing the championship battle, Button added: “The championship, whatever happens happens. The next couple of races we’re going to keep an eye on McLaren. Red Bull are not going to just keep an eye on Ferrari.

“It’s very different from the way of thinking going into a race weekend knowing they’ve got that challenge from McLaren. The strategy is a little bit different. They’ve got to be on their toes the whole time.”

Former IndyCar driver Danica Patrick believes the impact of McLaren’s updates should give them hope of seriously challenging Red Bull in the coming months.

“I mean Zak was just saying let’s bring some more updates,” she explained. “They just brought 10. If that’s his mentality and that is possible. They have that in the budget and they have the minds to create it, then I don’t see a reason why they wouldn’t keep going.

“Look, he really outshined Red Bull and Max today. He just drove away from him. It didn’t seem so obvious the upgrades were responsible but in the race it looked like they were leaps and bounds better.”