Lando Norris has impressed Jenson Button with his efforts in the McLaren MCL40 this year, but Oscar Piastri has now started to catch his eye after a difficult season in 2026.

McLaren entered the term as the reigning back-to-back constructors’ champions and Norris started 2026 as the defending drivers’ champion. But the papaya squad chose what proved to be the wrong philosophy for their first car built to F1’s 2026 chassis and aero regulations.

Unlike all of their rivals, McLaren chose a shorter wheelbase for the MCL40, which meant it generated less downforce from the floor. The Woking outfit will change their approach next year with a longer wheelbase, but Piastri’s problems have also stretched to his driving style.

What's the BIGGEST reason for Oscar Piastri's downturn at McLaren this year? 📉

Team principal Andrea Stella has regularly remarked how Piastri’s driving style has held him back in 2026, as the 25-year-old rarely tends to perform as well as Norris if he feels the rear of his car start to slide. Their different driving styles have helped Norris to open an 11-6 lead in their qualifying head-to-head and 9-8 lead for race results ahead of the United States GP.

Piastri feels he is now finding his way after dealing with the “mental challenge” of having to accept that what were his strengths in the ground-effect era are now his flaws. And Button has also seen a distinct improvement from Piastri in recent rounds, which he is glad to see, after the Melbourne native competed for the podium in Baku and with Norris in Singapore.

Button told Sky Sports F1 (23/10, 18:48): “It’s not been the most straightforward year, has it? When you look at Lando’s performances, he’s been extracting everything from the car. And Oscar, not so much, but he does seem to be turning it around, which is great to see.”

McLaren’s recent upgrades and more experience in the MCL40 have finally started to see Piastri turn a corner after often being blown away by Norris during the middle of the year.

The Australian enjoyed some early highs with P2 in Japan and P3 in Miami while McLaren’s rivals were still getting to grips with their 2026 rules cars. But since the rostrums in rounds three and four, Piastri has only finished fourth once, fifth on five occasions and sixth twice.

A podium was on the cards in round 15/23 in Baku, but Piastri finished the Azerbaijan GP in P13 after a costly lock-up. McLaren’s decision to then begin the Bahrain GP in Malaysia on a set of soft tyres in the rain then held Piastri back before the race started and he finished P6.

Until the final lap when Norris crashed into Piastri in the F1 Sprint in Singapore, he was also McLaren’s lead driver during the dash at Marina Bay. Only a slow puncture during the Grand Prix in Singapore also forced Piastri to drop away from Norris, having been largely matched.