Rosberg explains private message to ‘glass-half-empty’ Norris

Nico Rosberg has explained his reasoning behind privately messaging Lando Norris over the Italian Grand Prix weekend.

The 2016 F1 champion revealed on Sky Sports F1 in the run-up to the race at Monza that he had directly messaged the McLaren driver over his mindset, wanting to impart wisdom on the 24-year-old known for being particularly self-critical.

Norris has developed a reputation for at times being overtly pessimistic and unjustly harsh on himself.

Over the current F1 season, that has brought further attention on the British driver, with increased scrutiny being provided by Norris himself.

There is a growing sentiment that the two-time grand prix winner could be negatively affecting his performances, something Sky Sports F1 presenter Natalie Pinkham referred to as a "self-fulfilling prophecy" on the Sky Sports F1 podcast.

"They [sports psychologists] will tell you that you really start to believe what you say," replied Rosberg. "And that's why I wrote Lando a DM because I thought that my experience could be interesting for him because I've been through all that.

"Because for him, the glass is always half empty rather than half full.

"He's very authentic, which, of course, is lovely, but you can be authentic and be glass half full rather than half empty."

Norris 'decided to focus on his mistake'

The 39-year-old went on to draw upon how Norris approached his post-qualifying media duties after clinching pole position for the Italian Grand Prix.

"The best example was the qualifying lap [in Monza]," Rosberg added.

"Look, Lando puts it on pole and focuses his post-qualifying talk a lot on, 'I messed up the beginning of my lap, and it was a scruffy lap, and I apologise to the team. I was down after turn one and two...'

"But he could have just as much said, 'Actually, most of the lap was perfect. So awesome we're on pole position.'

"Both are the truth, but he decided to focus on his mistake and on the bad part of it, which was just the turn one and two, and not really so much on the rest, which was absolutely awesome, world championship driving, world-class.

"So both ways would have been the truth and authentic, and it's just a matter of how you put it out there."

Starting a 'positive spiral'

Rosberg, who took victory 23 times in his 11-year F1 career, feels that Norris does not immediately need to change the way he thinks, just project a different, more positive image to the media.

The German highlighted that eventually, over time, doing so could also transform his thoughts, too.

"I would hope and encourage him to think about that because you can't stop what you're thinking, so his thoughts will remain half- empty," said Rosberg. "That's, for now, the way he is. It's the way I am, actually, as well.

"But you can have quite an impact, nevertheless, if you adapt what you're saying because that's something you can choose on you, you can choose what to say.

"So if you consciously adapt what you're saying, you can have quite a positive spiral there, which eventually impacts your thoughts as well."