Nico Rosberg thinks McLaren CEO Zak Brown has one ‘important’ task to achieve with Lando Norris whilst he chases teammate Oscar Piastri down for the 2025 drivers’ title.
Only three points separate the papaya pals ahead of this Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with Piastri leading Norris with 161 points playing 158 after eight rounds. McLaren also set the early pace in Montmelo in Friday’s FP1 and FP2 sessions.
Norris initially carried the momentum from his Monaco Grand Prix win to the Spanish GP as the 25-year-old topped the FP1 timesheet with his 1:13.718 lap. Yet Piastri took top honours in FP2, with the 24-year-old’s 1:12.760 setting the pace with Norris 0.310 seconds shy in P4.
Nico Rosberg urges McLaren boss Zak Brown to feed Lando Norris ‘positivity’ amid the title fight
Rosberg believes Norris’ Monaco GP pole position can be ‘huge’ for his self-belief in the title fight with Piastri, having seen the Australian overturn a 23-point deficit after the first round into a 16-point lead after round six. Norris cut Piastri’s lead to 13 after round seven at Imola.
READ MORE: Every error that cost Lando Norris points in his failed 2024 F1 title challenge
| Position | Drivers’ Championship | Points |
| 1 |
Oscar Piastri |
161 |
| 2 |
Lando Norris |
158 |
| 3 |
Max Verstappen |
136 |
| 4 |
George Russell |
99 |
| 5 |
Charles Leclerc |
79 |
| 6 |
Lewis Hamilton |
63 |
| 7 |
Andrea Kimi Antonelli |
48 |
But as the Briton regularly focuses on his flaws, Rosberg believes it is ‘important’ that Brown delivers the 25-year-old ‘positivity’. Norris called himself ‘clueless’ after qualifying P6 for the Bahrain GP, and stated at Imola that his efforts in Q3 this season are ‘just not good enough’.
Rosberg said on Sky Sports’ The F1 Show (30/05, 17:28): “I would just keep saying positive things, ‘Hey Lando, great job!’.
“Someone like Lando is always a little more sensitive and always says that he has some doubts about himself. It’s important to keep feeding positivity, really, as a team boss.”
Lando Norris has focused on his flaws after being ‘not good enough’ in qualifying in 2025
Norris scored pole for the season-opener in Australia and converted it into the win in mixed conditions amid pressure from Piastri, before the Melbourne native spun out of second and had to recover to P9 at home, and later Max Verstappen as the Red Bull racer rallied late on.
But Norris then saw Piastri convert his first F1 pole into the win in China. Piastri also boosted his title credentials by becoming the first McLaren driver since Mika Hakkinen in 1998 to win three Grands Prix in a row in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami, as Norris came P3, P4 and P2.
Piastri and Norris have also out-qualified each other four times so far in the 2025 F1 season, ahead of qualifying for the Spanish GP on Saturday. The latter had enjoyed a dominant edge over the former in qualifying in 2024 after leading him 20-4, but Piastri has hit back in 2025.
