Lando Norris warned of 'really dark' place it will be 'hard to get out of'

Lando Norris has been warned by F1 champion Nico Rosberg that he faces ending up in a "really dark" place following the litany of errors this season that could cost him the drivers' title.

Rosberg, who endured his demons in going up against Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes before finally being crowned champion in 2016, feels McLaren driver Norris may find it difficult to emerge from such a situation given his downward spiral.

After mistakes in qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday left him starting from seventh on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve grid, Norris found himself in a position late in the race where he had an opportunity to pass team-mate and title rival Oscar Piastri.

Norris teed himself up with a fine attempt at an overtake through the Turn 10 hairpin, sparking a drag race down the back straight. 

Ceding to Piastri under braking into the final chicane, the Briton attacked again, only to run into the back of the Australian on the start-finish straight, retiring on the spot after hitting a wall.

The question for Norris is how he will now overcome the mental torment he will naturally be enduring.

"The thing is, it becomes a little bit traumatic at some point because you start spiralling negatively, down and down, and you get this repetition of making mistakes - I'm not good enough, I'm making mistakes," remarked Norris in his role as a pundit on Sky Sports F1.

"It starts to get to you in your head, and it can get pretty dark then, and I've been through this, so it gets really dark.

"Especially when you make a mistake, like this, where everybody can see it, you even hit your team-mate, and your whole team is thinking, 'What's going on?' It's difficult for Lando to get back out of that."

Norris error 'super strange'

Rosberg at least feels that for team principal Andrea Stella, the situation is an easy one to address, with it being so one-sided.

In this instance, Norris was clearly at fault. He immediately apologised to Piastri, who survived the incident without damage to his car, and went on to take the chequered flag in fourth.

Reviewing the incident, Rosberg said: "First of all, we're thankful to McLaren for letting them race, because it brings us a lot of excitement.

"It was an amazing battle to watch, the two of them going head to head, and Lando did an amazing first lunge into the hairpin. That was beautiful.

"Afterwards, it's just very strange the mistake that Lando made. Super strange. And it's just one more mistake of the many. And this is a big mistake.

"He's really committed. He doesn't back off or anything. He stays full on throttle, which is also a bit strange, full commitment, and there's no gap. So it's a bit awkward."

As to Stella's handling of the situation, Rosberg added: "This is not too difficult to sort out, because Piastri has not done anything.

"With Lando, Andrea just needs to have a talk with him and just understand. You don't need to blame because it's a misjudgment, but you need to go through it and understand it."