Bullishly proclaiming next year will be his year, Nico Rosberg has warned Lando Norris he’s added an “unnecessary pressure expectation dynamic” that will only wear him down.

Norris had to settle for second in the F1 2024 Drivers’ standings, the Briton finishing the season 63 points behind Max Verstappen.

Lando Norris: Next year’s going to be my year too

2024 was Norris’ breakthrough season in Formula 1 as he claimed his maiden Grand Prix victory in Miami before going on to add a further three P1s to his name. It was always the first time he’s ever been involved in the title fight having reduced Verstappen’s lead to 44 points with a victory in Brazil’s Sprint race.

Alas, a day later his title quest came undone when a red flag and mistakes of his own cost him in the Grand Prix. Verstappen secured the title at the following race weekend in Las Vegas before Norris wrapped up the Constructors’ for McLaren with a win in Abu Dhabi.

Taking the chequered flag, he proclaimed: “Next year’s going to be my year too.”

Rosberg reckons that might have been Norris’ first big mistake heading into F1 2025.

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“One,” he told the Sky F1 podcast of his advice for the Briton, “do not make the mistake and start building yourself towards ‘I am the favourite, everything else but winning is going to be a failure’.

“On the one hand we love to see it as spectators but for him, it’s probably not the best path.

“Like in Abu Dhabi on the cooldown lap he said in the car, ‘next year is my year’, and that’s something that I would actually recommend him not to do, because it’s just an unnecessary pressure expectation dynamic that you kick-off.

“If you want, do it internally, whatever, yeah, but not externally.

“That was one of the keys to me winning my World Championship, and especially for someone like Lando, who’s I would say not the very, very strongest, most settled mentally – I was that profile, also a lot of inner demons and doubts, and always glass empty, rather than glass full – and therefore, for him, I really highly recommend that he would take it race by race.

“You know that Melbourne he’s going there because he wants to win the race, and then the one after you win the race, but not go ‘Champion, Champion, that’s all that matters’.

“That is something I would highly recommend, because it just decompresses everything, takes the expectation out, takes the pressure out, reduces the load.

“Super important, because being the favourite for a championship, and then immersing yourself into that vibe of, ‘yeah, I’m the favourite’, it just such a high pressure situation, which you want to avoid as much as possible. I’m pretty sure that would be very valuable for him to take that approach.”

As for his second piece of advice for the McLaren, that’s “prepare” so that when, or if, McLaren give him a car to fight for a title, he’s ready for the challenge.

“The second one would be prepare the hell out of it. Like, prepare like crazy. You never know in F1 when the next opportunity comes to be world champion, you really never know, because you depend so much on your team. And we know that the regulations are changing in ’26, the biggest way they’ve perhaps ever changed in Formula One. It’s just crazy.

“So literally, the team that’s first could be like almost less than a year afterwards if you just get it completely wrong, it’s just gonna change so much.

“So you never know when your next chance comes to be world champion, and therefore prepare the hell out of it every single detail – whether it’s physical, mental, take a mental coach, or psychologist, I did as well, everything with a team. Keep driving during the winter, keep go karting, keep your skills active. Just everything possible. That would be the other recommendation.”

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