Nico Rosberg relieved that Lando Norris has finally started listening to him after Belgian Grand Prix pole

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Lando Norris will start the Belgian Grand Prix from pole position after an impressive turnaround from Sprint qualifying. Norris was a long way adrift of teammate Oscar Piastri on Friday but had the edge in the more significant session.

After back-to-back wins in Austria and Great Britain, Norris was surprisingly six-tenths slower than Piastri in Sprint qualifying. He started and finished third, a spectator in the battle between the sister McLaren and eventual winner Max Verstappen.

The cars come out of parc ferme after the Sprint, allowing the drivers to change their set-ups. Norris appeared to take full advantage, leading Piastri throughout qualifying and eventually outpacing him by just under a tenth.

He didn’t improve on his final run in Q3, but his advantage was big enough to protect pole position. Norris now ties Piastri and Verstappen with his fourth pole of the season.

Nico Rosberg says Lando Norris has finally started blocking out the external noise

Speaking immediately after Belgian Grand Prix qualifying, Norris said ‘people like to make a lot of things up’. This appeared to dig at those who had raised concerns about the Friday deficit to Piastri.

The Englishman put half of that deficit down to poor placement on the track. And he clearly didn’t let the doubts earlier in the weekend affect his driving.

Nico Rosberg has previously said Norris needs to work with a psychologist, comments that didn’t go down well inside McLaren. After qualifying, Sky Sports pundit Rosberg sounded encouraged by the change he’d seen in the 25-year-old.

“He’s said in the interviews that he’s not letting these opinions get to him anymore, he’s switching them off, which is exactly what I’ve been trying to recommend to him on-air,” Rosberg observed.

“Just turn everything off, dial everything down, just focus on yourself, the team and nothing else. He says he’s doing that, so maybe all that is working to his advantage now.”

Norris has apparently been rewarded for a comprehensive deep dive into Piastri’s data and onboard footage.

“I heard that he worked so hard, yesterday but also across lunchtime today after the Sprint race, to learn from Oscar Piastri,” Rosberg added. “He was looking at the data, looking at exactly what Oscar Piastri was doing differently.

“You look at the onboards, you look at the lines, the data, the braking, the throttle. He really copied a lot of things.”

David Coulthard’s text message to Lando Norris may have hit home

Jacques Villeneuve believes Norris can be too honest, a criticism many pundits have levelled. But he can silence them by winning his maiden championship this year.

After hitting Piastri at the Canadian GP and crashing out, he took full responsibility. And his response to that dramatic error has been largely excellent.

Norris received a text from David Coulthard, a former McLaren driver himself, afterwards. Coulthard urged him to ‘move on’ and not catastrophise.

And it seems he’s taken that advice to heart. If Norris leads a one-two on Sunday, he will close the gap to Piastri to just two points.