Nico Rosberg hands Lando Norris 'insanely difficult' instruction to save F1 title challenge

Nico Rosberg has urged Lando Norris to work with a psychological coach following criticism from the 2016 F1 champion towards the McLaren driver.

In qualifying for the Spanish GP, Norris was leading by 0.017s after the first Q3 runs from team-mate Oscar Piastri, but the Briton made multiple minor mistakes on his second lap. 

This allowed Piastri to earn pole in Barcelona with the largest margin of the season, 0.209s. That proved pivotal for the race as the Australian was quick off the line and barely troubled the 66 laps that followed.

Norris, meanwhile, made another crucial error, citing the start lights as an excuse, leading to a slow start and being swallowed up by Red Bull's Max Verstappen through Turn 1.

Although Norris managed to recover to claim second, he did not have enough to catch Piastri, leaving him 10 points adrift in the drivers' championship, and heading towards a two-horse race, with Verstappen 49 adrift. 

Norris has been extremely self-critical of his performances at times in 2025, with Rosberg feeling Norris must work with a mental coach to overcome his struggles and keep his title challenge hopes high.

"Everything had gone perfectly," said Rosberg, speaking to SkySportsF1, on Norris' qualifying execution.

"He was first until the last run, and it was just every corner a little mistake, every corner overdoing it, every corner running wide on the exit, getting a snap on the exit through the whole lap. 

"I mean, wow! So what does he have to do? From my point of view, he needs to work on the mental side.

"We're all spending hours and hours training our bodies, and I don't know if Lando has a mental coach and if he works with a psychologist or not. 

"He definitely should because there is so much value in working with one. It helped me so much to understand, to figure out the best possible approach. 

"In my championship year, two hours every two days leading up to the season in the spring was huge.

"It was more difficult than the actual physical training. It was insanely difficult but so extremely valuable."