Nico Rosberg urges Lando Norris to avoid unnecessary pressure, stressing that staying grounded is key to achieving championship success.
Nico Rosberg advises Lando Norris not to consider himself a favorite for next year’s world title. The 2016 world champion cautions the McLaren F1 driver against declaring 2025 as his year, as it creates unnecessary pressure.
“First, you must avoid the mistake of thinking, ‘I’m the favorite; anything less than victory is a failure.’ As spectators, we enjoy seeing that mindset, but for him, it’s probably not the best approach,” Rosberg told Sky F1.
“In Abu Dhabi, during the warm-up lap, he said in the car, ‘Next year is my year.’ That’s something I would advise him not to do. It creates a dynamic of unnecessary pressure and expectations.”
“If you want to, keep it internal, fine, but not publicly. That was one of the keys that helped me win my world championship, especially for someone like Lando, who, I’d say, isn’t the strongest or most mentally solid.”
“I had a similar profile—many inner demons and doubts, always seeing the glass half empty rather than half full. So for him, I strongly recommend focusing on taking things race by race.”
Nico Rosberg’s second piece of advice is not to assume there will be other chances to win a title: “The second thing is to prepare as thoroughly as possible. Prepare like crazy! In F1, you never know when the next opportunity to be world champion will come.”
“You truly never know because it depends so much on your team, and we know the regulations will change in 2026 in what might be the most significant way they’ve ever changed in Formula 1. It’s just insane.”
“The team that’s leading in 2025 could end up last the following year if they completely miss the mark. Things will change so much. You never know when the next chance to become world champion will come, which is why you need to prepare down to the smallest details.”
“Whether it’s physical or mental—get a mental coach, a psychologist, I did that too. I did that as well. Keep driving during the winter, keep karting, stay sharp. Do everything possible.”
Finally, the German advises Norris to review the mistakes he may have made against Verstappen in direct on-track battles: “He must analyze every wheel-to-wheel battle that Max Verstappen has had over the past three years.”
“He needs to analyze all of them. The team should prepare video clips, and he must study them. Study them, study them, and study them again to understand what he could do better tactically to beat Max in those situations.”
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Norris Urged to Stay Grounded in 2025 Title Pursuit Norris Urged to Stay Grounded in 2025 Title Pursuit
