F1 News
Is Norris mentally strong enough to battle Verstappen? 'It's a weakness'
Lando Norris' mentality has been branded a "weakness" by Nico Rosberg and Timo Glock after the Singapore Grand Prix. The 24-year-old dominated proceedings around the Marina Bay Street Circuit, but it was a race with many mistakes from the McLaren driver. He almost crashed into the wall and ended his race due to lapses in concentration.
Norris came away with a 21-second victory in Singapore at the end of the race, but there were plenty of times when he could have ended up in the wall. However, the gap between himself and Max Verstappen has now shrunk to 52 points with six weekends remaining, including three sprint races. However, the Dutchman has coped with the pressure of a world title fight, whereas Norris has not.
At the German branch of Sky Sports, Rosberg compared Norris with his teammate Oscar Piastri. "Lando is the one who has the more special speed up front, but I don't think he is as mentally stable as Piastri," said the 2016 world champion.
The former Mercedes driver also went on to talk about the fact that Norris has openly admitted to struggling with his mental health in the past and that he also engaged a psychologist to do so. "He has more self-doubt, he has said that more often than not, that he is always struggling with his mental health. That is reflected in one small mistake or another. That's a bit of his weakness then."
Glock says Norris needs to "find a way" to remove pressure
Rosberg's words were also echoed by Glock, who raced in 91 Grands Prix in his F1 career. He went on to say: "If you go back to two or three years ago, we always said: he is so relaxed. Now that he is in this situation, the pressure is there."
"I think that's normal. But he has to find a way to get rid of this pressure and enjoy the fact that he currently has a car at his disposal with which he can compete for the world championship," concluded Glock.
This article was created in collaboration with Corwin Kunst
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