Nico Rosberg Warns Lando Norris of ‘Really Dark Place’ Amid Oscar Piastri Clash

Nico Rosberg offers some piece of advice for Lando Norris who will have to mentally recover from his late-race crash during the Canadian GP.

Nico Rosberg Warns Lando Norris of ‘Really Dark Place’ Amid Oscar Piastri Clash

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri (via Getty), Nico Rosberg (via IMAGO)

The Canadian GP would be a race weekend to forget for Lando Norris as he suffered from a DNF following a late-race collision with his teammate, Oscar Piastri. The Briton was on par to fight for a podium finish if he didn’t wreck himself. Now, as Norris hopes to move on from the disaster in Canada, Nico Rosberg reveals the harmful effects of such an accident on a driver’s mental.

Lando Norris is famously known to be too harsh on himself and remains his own biggest critic. As such, the Briton regretted the accident in Canada and took complete blame for the crash. This incident would definitely take a huge toll on Norris’ confidence and mental health as he loses crucial points in his bid to achieve the drivers’ title. Hence, Nico Rosberg, who is no stranger to such low points in his F1 career, has offered some pieces of advice for the 25-year-old.

Nico Rosberg revealed that such accidents become traumatic after a certain point in time, as a driver would then start to spiral negatively. One would also start questioning their abilities and come to believe that they are making massive mistakes and are not good enough. Lando Norris is likely to suffer from similar phases as he was spotted being extremely disappointed after his wreck at the Canadian GP.

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.

Nico Rosberg said via Sky Sports F1

Rosberg believes that these thoughts would get into Lando Norris’ head and lead him into a very dark place mentally. The Briton will need to show great mental strength and resilience and not let such incidents affect him. The German sympathized with the 25-year-old and revealed his own battle with such mental issues in the past when he was going through his great rivalry against Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.

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, 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.

Nico Rosberg added

Nico Rosberg calls Lando Norris’ Canadian GP crash ‘super strange’

McLaren’s superior pace in the challenger was somewhat absent at the Canadian GP as Mercedes and Red Bull remained the team to beat. Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri were both on the backfoot of the entire race in terms of contending for the race win. However, Norris could have fought for a podium finish with Kimi Antonelli towards the end if it weren’t for his serious collision. As such, Nico Rosberg labels the crash as ‘strange’, which was definitely not in the cards for the 25-year-old.

Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and Andrea Stella (via F1)
Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris and Andrea Stella (via F1)

Nico Rosberg reckoned that the mistake that Lando Norris committed in Canada was ‘very strange’. Rosberg pinpointed that his wreck in Canada was just a part of many other mistakes that the Briton has committed in recent performances. As such, the German asserted that such strange and big mistakes put the team in an awkward spot and were avoidable if Norris wasn’t so committed to fighting on the track and pushing himself to the limit.

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.

Nico Rosberg noted

McLaren will now look into the issues in performance at the Canadian GP and ensure that such slumps in pace do not come up again. The team’s overall atmosphere is still positive as Oscar Piastri leads the championship, with the constructors’ champion also being in their favor. Still, Norris will have to ensure that such lapses in performance do not happen for the remainder of the season if he wants to stay in contention for the drivers’ title.

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