McLaren now privately furious with Nico Rosberg over one Lando Norris comment made this season

McLaren driver Lando Norris has plenty of work to do after a tricky qualifying session for the Canadian Grand Prix.

Lando Norris will start the Canadian Grand Prix from the fourth row of the grid alongside Charles Leclerc after both drivers failed to fulfil their potential in Montreal.

Damon Hill lamented Norris’ qualifying performance after several mistakes in Q3 ruined his chances of challenging for pole position.

The McLaren star appeared to have an advantage over teammate and drivers’ championship leader Oscar Piastri throughout practice.

Piastri appeared to be struggling and hit the Wall of Champions during FP3 before claiming third on the grid for Sunday’s race.

Nico Rosberg has covered the last two races for Sky Sports F1 as a pundit and has been very vocal about both McLaren drivers.

Rosberg U-turned on one of his Piastri critiques after he won the Spanish Grand Prix but pinpointed one area where Norris needs to improve.

It turns out that the 2016 F1 world champion’s comments haven’t gone down well within the McLaren camp.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Lando Norris’ life outside F1 from parents to celebration

McLaren furious with Nico Rosberg over Lando Norris psychologist comments

A report from the Daily Mail has shared more information on how McLaren are feeling internally about Norris.

They believe that Rosberg stating that Norris needs to work with a psychologist ‘went down badly’ at McLaren and that the pundit is simply trying to ‘make a name for himself’ in the media.

However, this isn’t a new suggestion from Rosberg, who all the way back in 2023 offered to help Norris with his mentality.

He said on the Sky F1 podcast after the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, “I was going to write [to] him maybe because I studied with psychologists for 10 years, I was really the driver who was most dedicated to improving my mental performance, but also mental well-being actually, because it came hand-in-hand.

“So I spent every two days, I worked two hours with a psychologist. It was more intense than the physical training. It was insane. And it really helped. It was a big, big part of me becoming a World Champion.

“So I wanted to write [to] Lando actually, and I wanted to say that one thing is thinking you’re not good enough, but the other thing which you can influence and avoid is what you’re saying then, and if you keep repeating that, in repetition, you can start to believe what you say.”

READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

Lando Norris responds to Nico Rosberg’s comments on needing a psychologist

Norris was asked about Rosberg’s comments and explained: “I don’t know what he said. I mean, I do all of those things [working on his mindset].

“He doesn’t know what I do. I do stuff to make me better.

“I try not to think about it. Part of me in the early part of my career was thinking about it too much because it was a cool situation to be in, but you shouldn’t let it change anything.

“But you are going to get judged more, whether good or bad, but it shouldn’t alter the output of what you are trying to achieve.

“Now I am better, not in an arrogant way, of not caring about who is watching and what people are thinking, especially those on the outside. The only opinions I care about are those of my team because they know me.

“I never really know what I am feeling. Same as old. I am excited about going to drive – nothing different from normal.”

Norris has driven superbly this season and his victories in Australia and in particular Monaco highlight that he has the ability and the mindset to succeed.

However, when a driver is challenging for the championship, any mistake is going to be highlighted and closely studied and that’s what Norris is currently facing.