The Formula 1 title battle is “starting to take its toll” on both McLaren drivers after its Azerbaijan Grand Prix disaster, according to Jenson Button.
McLaren saw by far its toughest F1 weekend of the season in Baku, with Oscar Piastri crashing out on Lap 1, and Lando Norris finishing a modest seventh.
All the while, Max Verstappen wrestled himself back into outside contention for the title with a dominant win, following on from the dominant win at Monza two weeks prior.
The Constructors’ Championship is all but sewn-up for McLaren, but with Piastri leading Norris by 25 points, and with Verstappen not a great deal of points behind, nothing is certain.
Speaking on Sky Sports F1 ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, Button believes that his former team’s drivers are starting to feel the heat whereas Verstappen has no pressure upon his shoulders.
“When you look back at Baku, the McLarens were still quick but their two drivers fighting for the world championship, it’s starting to take its toll,” he said.
“Then you have Max, who has won four, going out and enjoying himself.”
Piastri’s weekend was uncharacteristic, which began in qualifying, after crashing in Q3, leaving him to start a difficult ninth.
And then it went from bad to worse, jumping the start which caused his MCL39 to bog down and leave him at the back of the field.
Five corners later, it was all over, planting the car into the barrier on the outside of Turn 5.
Piastri has shrugged off any notion of being affected by the nightmarish Baku race, but Button asked the question of whether it will leave any imprint on the Australian.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how it affects him,” he said.
“If he can write it off as a tough weekend, which hopefully he can, he’ll be out strong again.
“But it was unusual – two times the same incident, basically. It’s very unusual for someone of his calibre.”
READ MORE – The lessons Oscar Piastri has learned from F1 Azerbaijan GP disaster
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