Nico Rosberg questions attitude of ‘glass half-empty’ Lando Norris

Nico Rosberg believes Lando Norris needs to be more positive, having described the McLaren F1 driver as being a “glass half-empty guy”.

Norris turned in a brilliant drive - aided by two Safety Car periods - to rise from fourth and finish second at the Chinese Grand Prix as he split the Red Bull Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez to score his and McLaren’s second podium of the season.

The Briton admitted he had bet McLaren colleagues that he would finish 35 seconds behind the Ferraris in Shanghai before denying Red Bull a 1-2, which he said came as a “surprise”.

Analysing McLaren’s performance in China during Sky Sports F1’s coverage, Rosberg urged Norris to have more “positivity”.

“Lando is a glass half-empty guy,” the 2016 world champion said.

“Pre-race betting that Ferrari are going to beat them? I don’t know. I don’t think that’s the best approach, in general. Positivity would be helpful.

“Nevertheless, he had a phenomenal drive today. He drove so well. Together with Max, the driver of the day. Consistency, there was no degradation on his car.

“The comparison to his teammate Oscar Piastri who was really struggling with degradation. Big difference, there. So a phenomenal drive.”

Teammate Oscar Piastri managed to hold off Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes to claim eighth despite picking up damage to his car.

The double points finish has strengthened McLaren’s grasp on third place in the constructors’ championship.

McLaren are 44 points ahead of fourth-placed Mercedes and 55 behind Ferrari.

Rosberg is convinced McLaren can “definitely” challenge Ferrari for second, with upgrades planned for the upcoming Miami Grand Prix.

“It’s amazing progress,” he said. “Although it is up and down on performance from one track to another, so it’s not clear where we are with the pecking order.

“Ferrari, for example, were disappointing today. But McLaren can definitely challenge for P2 in the constructors. They need Oscar to find more consistency in the racing.”