Former world champion Nico Rosberg has said that Lando Norris lost a crucial pole position to Oscar Piastri at the Spanish Grand Prix because his teammate holds a mental edge over him.
Norris was ahead of Piastri after the first runs in Q3 on Saturday but made a number of small errors on the critical final laps and finished two-tenths of a second behind the other McLaren.
Piastri also leads Norris in the championship — by three points — and has a great chance to extend his advantage in Sunday’s race.
“Piastri is just so solid,” Rosberg, the 2016 Formula 1 world champion, said on Sky Sports. “He always delivers, no mistakes, whereas Lando is a little bit the opposite.
“Pole position was [lost] in the head today. Unfortunately, we see over and over from Lando, when the pressure is highest, we see these little mistakes creeping in.”
Rosberg added: “From my point of view, he needs to work on the mental side. We all work hours and hours training our bodies.
“I don’t know if Lando has a mental coach. Does he work with a psychologist or not? He definitely should because there’s so much value in that.”
As revealed in an exclusive interview with ESPN last week, Norris has worked with a psychologist for several years.
“It’s just making sure I’m thinking of the right things. I’m not telling myself the wrong things,” he said. “I do do that every now and then. I do do that from time to time. I don’t reassure myself, probably, enough as I should.
“I think I’m always working on different things. Because driving is not literally, if you just drive the car the quickest, there’s a lot of different factors that come into it. Especially when it’s a seasonlong thing, it’s not just about one weekend.”
Norris did, however, accept that errors cost him pole on Saturday.
“Oscar drove very well,” he said in Barcelona. “The pace is definitely there, just a couple of little mistakes.”
Source: espn.com