Nico Rosberg believes Lando Norris is the favorite for the F1 world championship in 2025 but has offered the McLaren driver advice on how to approach this winter and next title challenge – year.
Norris, 25, enjoyed his best season in 2024, winning the first four Grands Prix of his career and finishing second to Max Verstappen in the Drivers' Championship with his results helping McLaren win the constructors' title for the first time. period in 26 years.
With Norris already vowing to come back stronger to try and dethrone Verstappen next year, Sky Sports F1 Pundit Rosberg has been installed as the driver to beat – although he has warned that the Briton needs to make fewer mistakes.
“He's shown raw speed at a level I would say even with Max Verstappen. So the raw speed is there, he's very, very amazing and he's like the world champion,” the 2016 world champion told Sky Sports F1 Podcast.
“Where we've still seen a few issues for him, he has inner demons in his mind that cause a couple of mistakes. The highlight was in Singapore where he led the race by 20 seconds and twice. he almost fell out to the point that it was even a little strange that he was so extreme
“So he still needs to work on that a bit to reduce a couple of mistakes, which is an area where (McLaren team-mate) Oscar Piastri is stronger. Piastri is not as fast in his top speed but is always consistent. , always there, no errors.
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Speaking on the F1 Podcast, Nico Rosberg believes Lando Norris is the favorite for the 2025 F1 Drivers' Championship
“But Lando is the favorite next year now to win the championship.”
Justifying his choice, Rosberg said: “Why not? There is no reason why he shouldn't be the favorite because McLaren was the strongest car at the end of this year, he was slightly stronger than Piastri in the team, so he should for him to be. their favorite.
“Verstappen doesn't have the fastest car. He's won two races since May – that's nuts – and one of them was just Verstappen magic in the water.
“So there's only one race in the dry he's won since May. You're not going to win the world championship in that form next year against Lando Norris. So I'd say Lando is the a favorite.”
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Max Verstappen was awarded his title in Rwanda and admitted that 'a lot is going to change' as he looked at future fights as the new 2026 rules come to end
Rosberg's three pieces of advice for Norris
Rosberg won his F1 title in 2016 after two years of finishing second to Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Using that knowledge, the German suggested three ways Norris should approach 2025.
Urging the McLaren driver to take the season “race by race” rather than thinking too far ahead, Rosberg said: “Don't make a mistake and start building yourself up towards 'I am the favorite, everything else but a win will be a failure. '.
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The final lap of the 2024 Formula One season saw Lewis Hamilton shine in his final lap for Mercedes and Lando Norris' win helped McLaren claim the Constructors' Championship
“On the one hand we love to see him as spectators, but for him this might not be the best way.
“Like in Abu Dhabi on the cool lap he said in the car 'next year is my year' and that's something I would really advise him not to do because it's just pressure or -necessary, dynamic expectation that you start.
“If you want, do it on the inside or whatever, but especially not on the outside – that was one of the keys for me to win my championship world, indeed.”
And for his next piece of advice going into the final year of F1's current rules era, Rosberg said: “The second one was, prepare the hell out of it. Prepare like crazy!
“You never know in F1 when your next chance to become world champion will come. You never know because it depends so much on your team and we know that the rules change in 26 in the most way they have ever changed in Formula 1. , it's just crazy.
“So literally the team that's first (in 2025) could be last the next year if you get it wrong. It's just going to change so much.
“So you never know when your next chance to be world champion will come so prepare the hell out of it, every detail. Whether it's physical, mental – get a mental coach, a psychologist, I did that too.
“Keep driving through the winter, keep go-karting, keep your skills active. Everything possible.”
Finally, Rosberg said that Norris needs to study his main rival to find a way to overcome Verstappen in a close fight more often.
“He has to analyze every wheel-to-wheel battle that Max Verstappen has been in for the last three years. Every one,” he said.
“The team has to prepare clips of videos and he has to study them. Study them, study them and study them to understand what he can do better to beat Max in these situations.”
Watch all 24 race weekends from the 2025 Formula 1 season live on Sky Sports F1, starting with the Australian GP on March 14-16. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – No contract, cancel anytime
