Lando Norris McLaren commitment surprises Jenson Button

Lando Norris, Baku, 2022 — Photo: © LAT Images

McLaren

Norris McLaren commitment surprises Button

Does Norris need a McLaren turnaround to vindicate his decision?

Ewan Gale

Sunday 19 February 2023 11:02 Updated: 12:16

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Former F1 world champion Jenson Button has conceded he was surprised by Lando Norris' long-term commitment to McLaren.

The British driver signed an extension to his stay with the Woking-based team last season that will see him remain a McLaren driver until at least the end of 2025.

Norris came close to breaking his F1 duck in 2021 at the Russian Grand Prix but after signing the deal, McLaren struggled to get to grips with the radical new aerodynamic regulations and slumped behind Alpine in the constructors' standings.

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But Norris' talent was proven by the fact he was the only non-Red Bull, Ferrari or Mercedes driver to secure a podium finish last term.

"I was surprised when he signed a long-term deal," the 2009 World Champion told Sky Sports F1.

"Because in this sport, you don’t know who’s at the front and you need to be in a winning car.

"Your talent is not enough to bring a car to the front."

Norris needs winning car

"You can help them develop, but you need to be in a competitive car that can win races and McLaren hasn’t given him that," added Button.

"They’re doing well, but at this point in his career, he needs to be in a winning car.

"So let's see what happens over the next couple of years, I really do hope that teams like McLaren, Alpine and Aston Martin will be closer to the top three and even challenging.

“That was the whole idea with the budget cap, and also the wind tunnel time that the top teams get a lot less when they perform well in a season for the next year.

“So hopefully we’re going to start seeing benefits from that in 2023, ‘24 I think we’ll see it even more so."

Norris and McLaren will begin pre-season testing ahead of the 2023 season in Bahrain this Thursday.