“I’m surprised Norris signed McLaren deal - he needs a winning car”
A year ago Norris signed a four-year deal which runs until the start of 2026.
But McLaren’s ability to equip their talented young driver with the machinery required to win races and eventually championships has been called into question by an ex-F1 champion.
“I was surprised when he signed a long-term deal,” Button told Sky. “In this sport you don’t know who’s at the front.
“You need to be in a winning car. Your talent is not enough to bring a car to the front.
“You can help them develop. But you need to be in a competitive car that can win races. McLaren haven’t given him that.
“They are doing well, but at this point in his career he needs to be in a winning car.
We’ll see what happens over the next couple of years.
“I really hope teams like McLaren, Alpine and Aston Martin are closer to the top three, and even challenging.
“That was the whole idea with the budget cap and the wind tunnel time.
“Hopefully we start seeing benefits from that in 2023, and in 2024 I think we’ll see it even more so.
“He’s got time on his side, Lando. Very quick. New teammate in Oscar Piastri who again is very talented.
“It puts a lot of pressure on both of them, with Piastri coming straight into F1 and jumping straight into a relatively competitive car.”
Norris dramatically outperformed Daniel Ricciardo last season, and the veteran Australian lost his seat to rookie Piastri for 2023.
Norris has six podium-finishes in his four-year F1 career and, at 23 now, is regularly mentioned as a future option to be recruited by one of the sport’s major teams. But he is committed to McLaren for a further three years.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
