Why Jenson Button thinks Lando Norris ‘must be careful’ after frustrating result at Silverstone

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Lando Norris was understandably downbeat after missing out on the win at the British Grand Prix, admitting that a combination of driver and team errors led to them losing out to Lewis Hamilton.

The Brition was impressing in front of the home crowed when he overtook Hamilton and George Russell for the lead several laps into the race, as drizzle started to affect the grip levels at the track.

McLaren’s race began to unravel after they sacrificed Oscar Piastri to pit Norris when the switch to Intermediates came. At his next pit stop, Norris was several seconds slower after he overshot his pit box on the worn wet tyres, enabling Hamilton to retake the lead.

Norris also made the wrong tyre choice by fitting a set of used softs instead of the new mediums he had in his pool, which allowed Max Verstappen on a new set of hard tyres to take second place in the closing stages of the race.

After the race, Norris was dejected and said he ‘let himself down’ knowing that he threw away a race win and lost more points to Verstappen in what is shaping up to be a title battle between the pair.

Former driver and 2009 World Champion Jenson Button offered Norris advice after his frustrating result when speaking on Sky Sports F1.

Jenson Button offers Lando Norris advice after Silverstone loss

Button has been on the receiving end of difficult moments in his career, so understands how tough it can be for a driver to deal with another loss after coming close.

Norris is an emotional character when he makes his own mistakes, something Button thinks he should attempt to suppress to prevent any competitive advantage from being lost to his rivals.

“Lando needs to be careful with his emotions because he’s putting himself down massively. The last race, this race, and it can spiral so easily out of control. We know how important it is to have your head in the right place,” said Button.

“He’s so talented and I don’t want him to be down on himself, so he’s not back up there on the next race. You also don’t want to show the competitors that you’re that down, that’s a weakness you don’t want to show. It’s lovely that he’s open with his emotions, it’s great for us viewers, but I’m just thinking at a competitive side of things he should not be so down on himself.”

Lando Norris must iron out mistakes after latest defeat

It is the third time in a row that McLaren and Lando Norris have been one of the fastest cars on track but suffered defeat.

In Spain, Norris admitted that a poor start from the pole and a bad final pit stop cost him the win to Verstappen. The team did everything right in Austria to put him in a position to win, but the subsequent skirmish with Verstappen ultimately prevented Norris from taking his second-race win.

Norris is lucky he has the Miami win to prevent any questions over whether he can achieve a race win, but the tone has massively shifted in the last few races compared to what it was at the start of the season.

He branded his second place in China ‘like a win’ but now that McLaren has produced a car capable of winning races on merit, there is a sense of missed opportunity at the papaya outfit.