"He tried to mind-f**k Lewis Hamilton": IndyCar's Alexander Rossi uses Nico Rosberg example to question Lando Norris' mindset

IndyCar driver Alexander Rossi has questioned whether Lando Norris could win the F1 championship against Max Verstappen by being a "nice guy". He cited Nico Rosberg's ugly title fight against Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in 2016 to back his argument.

Norris is in a three-way fight for the 2025 title against his McLaren teammate, Oscar Piastri, and reigning champ Verstappen. Piastri took the championship lead after winning the Saudi Arabian GP.

Ed Carpenter Racing driver Alexander Rossi spoke about McLaren's intra-team battle on his Off Track with Hinch and Rossi podcast with co-host James Hinchcliffe, an F1 and IndyCar analyst and former IndyCar driver. When Hinchcliffe brought up Norris' "nice guy" mindset, Rossi couldn't help but doubt it.

"You look at Nico Rosberg... when you think of him as a person, you think of him as a very nice, intelligent, well-spoken, mild-mannered individual. But it's been openly discussed the games he had to play with Lewis to beat him, like he did not take the nice guy approach. He tried to mind-f**k Lewis at every opportunity that he could, and he won a world championship. And then he retired, 'coz he was like, 'I don't want to do that again,'" the 2016 Indy 500 winner said. [34:30 onwards]

Nico Rosberg has admitted on several occasions that Lewis Hamilton was the toughest teammate he ever had. On a personal level, he did everything he could to beat his Mercedes teammate in 2016, including the extreme measure of cutting holes in his car seat to reduce its weight and gain extra speed.

While Lando Norris has yet to face such an extreme threat, Oscar Piastri is proving to be the lead McLaren driver this year with three wins in five races.

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Alexander Rossi worries about Lando Norris' self-criticism: "People are going to take advantage of that"

Lando Norris at the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia - Source: Getty

Alexander Rossi, also a former F1 driver, spoke worriedly about Lando Norris' self-critical behavior after the Saudi Arabian GP qualifying incident. The McLaren driver crashed his MCL39 in Turn 5 at the Jeddah circuit on his final push in Q3. He said "f**king idiot" on team radio, seemingly blaming himself for that costly mistake that made him start in P10 on the grid.

Rossi, who drove for McLaren's IndyCar team, Arrow McLaren, in 2023 and 2024, sympathized with Norris.

"He was pretty hard on himself. It was a simple mistake. I really need him to get over that because I like Lando. I want Lando to win a championship, and I don't know that that mentality is the right one. Maybe it is. But he's so hard on himself and so honest all the time, it's like, 'Bro, people are gonna take advantage of that.' So have a bit of a chip on your shoulder," he said on the aforementioned podcast.

The next F1 race weekend in Miami from May 2 to 4 is where Norris took his first career win in 2024. On the same weekend, Alexander Rossi will race in IndyCar's Children's of Alabama IndyCar GP at Barber Motorsports Park.