Lando Norris has hit back at 2009 Formula 1 world champion Jenson Button saying he is “silly” about him. Last month, Button said he was “surprised” when the 23-year-old Norris extended his contract with McLaren until the end of 2025 this time last year. Button’s comments came before it became clear how much McLaren was struggling with its 2023 car.
Alex Albon admitted that Williams probably has the slowest car on the grid this year, but predicted they would be battling “AlphaTauri and McLaren” in Bahrain, and that’s what happened. “They are not up to speed,” agreed F1 legend Gerhard Berger at Krone. “I don’t think the departure of Andreas Seidl helped either.” “He may not be as strong as we’d like, but he’s not as bad as some people think,” said Lando Norris. But Norris insisted he was going to laugh it off when Button said he made a mistake pledging his future to McLaren. “If someone speaks ill of me, I just laugh it off. It’s a big deal,” he told PA. “If it were me a few years ago, I might have been a little more mindful,” he said. “Especially Jenson, because he’s been through a lot of these times. So I accept everything. I don’t ignore it. I understand a little bit of what he’s saying.” Norris admitted other teams were interested when he signed with McLaren. “But I believe in McLaren and I want to,” said Norris. “It’s tough at the moment and I wish I was ahead of where I am, but I did what was best for me and I trust my decision.”