Jenson Button is “excited” to see how Lando Norris will “move on” from his collision with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri at the Canadian Grand Prix.

A strong recovery drive from Norris ended in disaster as he looked to squeeze down the inside of Piastri along the back straight, a gap which never opened as Norris clipped Piastri’s rear wheel and was sent slamming into and skidding along the outside of the pit wall.

Jenson Button on Lando Norris: ‘Excited to see him move on’

Norris had been challenging his team-mate for P4 on the road, with runaway championship leaders McLaren finding themselves in the rare position of not possessing the ultimate pace on Sunday in Canada.

But Piastri’s P4 finish became even more important in the context of the Drivers’ Championship after Norris eliminated himself from the race, Piastri’s lead over Norris thus increasing from 10 to 22 points.

It was a dose of deja vu for McLaren, as Button recalled his Canadian GP crash with Lewis Hamilton at the same spot back in 2011, when they were McLaren team-mates.

Now, he will watch how Norris moves forward.

“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,” Button told Sky Sports.

“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 [in 2026].

“They are both fighting hard for this World Championship but it happens. Lewis and myself crashed into each other 14 years ago on the same straight! It happens.

“This is the moment whether we see if 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.”

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Any potential tension between the McLaren drivers was averted as Norris swiftly took full responsibility for the collision.

Speaking to the media following the Canadian Grand Prix, Norris said: “Our rule number one is to not make contact with your team-mate, that’s what I did.

“McLaren is my family. I race for them. Every single weekend I try and do well for them, more than I often try and do well for myself.

“So when I let them down like this, and when I make a fool of myself in a moment like today, I have a lot of regret in something like that.

“I’m not proud of that, and I feel bad, and I feel like I let down my team, and that’s for me always the worst feeling. So of course, I only really need to apologise to all of them and Oscar as well.”

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