45-year-old F1 legend put Lando Norris in the spotlight after controversial incident with Oscar Piastri in Canada

F1 legend and former McLaren driver Jenson Button felt that the Canadian GP collision with Oscar Piastri would be the catalyst to bring out the real Lando Norris and reveal his current mental space. The race in Montreal featured the Woking-based squad having a surprisingly difficult weekend.

Though the car was still quite impressive, it was nowhere close to being the class of the field, as has often been the case this season. As a result, in the later stages of the race, Norris and Piastri had to defend their P5 and P4, respectively. While the Australian was trying to overtake Kimi Antonelli for a potential podium finish, the Brit was slowly catching up to him on fresher hard tires.

After a few attempts, Piastri seemed to have stressed his tires a bit too much and was vulnerable to Lando Norris behind him. In a wheel-to-wheel sequence that began at the hairpin, the Brit hit the rear tire of his McLaren teammate and picked up terminal damage.

McLaren has allowed the drivers to battle it out more often than not, but a collision between the two was something that the team has been against. Lando Norris immediately apologized to both Oscar Piastri and the team after the incident. However, according to Jenson Button, the incident would reveal what mental state the young Brit is in. He told Sky Sports F1:

“This is the moment whether we see Lando is in a good mental place and whether he will come out of the other side strong. I think he has, in terms of being confident in his ability and putting it all out there, so I'm excited to see him move on.”

Collisions like the Lando Norris-Oscar Piastri one can happen, says Jenson Button

Jenson Button wasn't too perturbed by the fact that both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri collided in the main race. The driver himself had a collision with Lewis Hamilton at the same spot in 2011, and hence felt that such things could happen in a battle.

Talking about the incident, Button said, via the aforementioned source:

“I like that we have the inter-team fight because this is the fight for the world championship. It's nice they are going hard. This is a moment in time for them where they have to grab the bull by the horns because you don't know when the next chance will come, or if it will ever come, because of the regulation change."

He added:

"They are both fighting hard for this world championship, but it happens. Lewis and myself crashed into each 14 years ago on the same straight! It happens.”

The incident in Canada was costly for Norris, as the championship deficit has now ballooned to 22 points.

Edited by Hitesh Nigam