Jenson Button rallies behind Norris after Piastri crash: "Turned a corner"

Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button believes Lando Norris has "turned a corner" despite a costly collision with McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri. In a comparison to his own racing alongside Lewis Hamilton, he admits he's enjoying the duelling between the two.

Speaking at the New York premiere of the F1 movie, the former driver, now-pundit, revealed his confidence in the Papaya driver. 

The two drivers came together in the closing stages of the Canadian Grand Prix as both cars battled for fourth. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve hadn't seen a lot of action until Norris lunged down the outside of his team-mate, misjudging the gap and shredding his front wing on Piastri's rear tyre. His race came to an end, and he slunk back to the garage with his head in his hands and full of apologies to his team.

Drawing a comparison to a similar incident between himself and his then-McLaren team-mate Hamilton, Button was keen to put it down to a simple mistake.

"Yeah, it was a mistake by Lando, but it happens. You know, Lewis and myself crashed into each other 14 years ago on the same straight - so it happens," he said. 

The implications of the DNF were enough punishment for Norris, who now sits 22 points behind his team-mate. 

Lando Norris, McLaren

Photo by: James Sutton / Motorsport Images

"I like that we have the inter-team fight because this is the fight for the world championship. It's nice that they're going hard," Button said. "They're going to make mistakes - this is a moment in time for them.

"But they've got to grab the bull by the horns, because you don't know when the next one's going to come, or if it'll ever come with a regulation change. So they're both fighting hard for this world championship."

The 2009 champion believes this will be a cornerstone moment of Norris' battle with his mindset.

"I think he's turned a corner - excuse the pun - but I think he really has in terms of being confident in his ability and putting it all out there. So I'm really excited about seeing him move on from it."

Norris explained his actions in New York, via Sky Sports.

"What happened happened and I regretted it at the time and apologised for it. Sadly, it's also racing. I take it on the chin and I've got to move on. I've got to look at the next race and see how I can do a better job and not make those silly mistakes at times.

"There's a lot of positives and I'll make sure to look at them and build on what I've got because once I get into a good rhythm I'm sure I will be very happy."