Jenson Button: Lando Norris ‘won’t change how he goes racing’ despite first F1 win

Former McLaren driver Jenson Button doesn’t think Lando Norris will alter his approach to racing in F1 despite claiming his long-awaited first victory.

Norris clinched his maiden F1 victory on Sunday at the Miami Grand Prix after inheriting the lead under the Safety Car.

The British driver dominated the race following the Safety Car, finishing over seven seconds ahead of Max Verstappen.

It brings an end to a series of near-misses for Norris, most notably at the 2021 Russian Grand Prix, where he’d have won had he stopped for intermediates on the same lap as Lewis Hamilton.

Like Norris, Button had a long wait for his first win in F1, coming out on top at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix having made his debut six years prior.

Speaking after the race in Miami, Button was asked how the victory would potentially change Norris.

“The only thing that it does change is you’ve won a race and that memory sticks with you forever,” he said. “You still need the car to perform and to get the result again. For me it took three years, hopefully for him it won’t take that long to win a second race.

“It doesn’t change the way he’s going to go racing. He’s a confident driver. He’s very skilled and he’s a team player.

“I expect to see him winning more over the years to come and I just hope it’s sooner rather than later so we can have a fight between Red Bull and McLaren.”

Similarly, Danica Patrick doesn’t think Norris’ victory will “change a whole lot” because it was something that was inevitable.

“Sometimes you learn how to win,” she added. “You have the right mentality for it and everybody pictures you that way, seeing you that way which can have its own momentum and energy.

“I am not sure it really changes a whole lot because we saw it coming. He’s almost won many times and everybody believes he’s going to win so many more, eventually a championship. The beginning of something really fun.”