Lando Norris told his F1 Belgium GP errors “wouldn’t happen” to Lewis Hamilton

Nico Rosberg has criticised McLaren driver Lando Norris after a trio of errors contributed to his defeat to teammate Oscar Piastri in the Belgian Grand Prix.

Despite starting the race from pole position, Norris saw his points deficit to Piastri widen to 16 points after the Australian passed him at Les Combes on the first green-flag lap.

Norris was also disadvantaged in the pits when the track became too dry for slick tyres, which meant he had to spend an extra lap on worn out intermediate tyres compared to his direct rival.

However, the Briton still had one ace up his sleeve, having gone for the more durable hard tyre for his second and final stint as opposed to mediums for Piastri.

After initially conceding ground as he warmed up the rubber, Norris slowly started catching the championship leader lap by lap, as he set about reducing a seven-second gap to the front.

However, the 25-year-old had a major moment at Pouhon and two separate lock-ups at La Source, which meant that he was never able to get into Piastri’s DRS range.

He ultimately crossed the line 3.4 seconds adrift in second place and admitted afterwards that Piastri “deserved” the victory.

Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton comparison made

Sky TV presenter Rosberg wasn’t impressed with Norris’ driving at Spa, stating that a champion like Lewis Hamilton wouldn’t have made such critical errors while chasing a rival for victory.

“Fair play for Lando’s words, that it was qualifying lap after qualifying lap, he was pushing on the edge,” 2016 F1 champion Rosberg.

“Then, perhaps, a couple of mistakes happen.

“I just question if someone like Hamilton would have made three mistakes? I am not sure, if he was pushing like crazy in a race like that, when there is ‘Hammer Time’.

“I am not sure. I think they wouldn’t happen, those three mistakes.

But Lando did a good job this weekend. It was a tough first lap.”

Norris is known to be very hard on himself, a tendency many analysts believe may be working against him.

However, he has worked on this area in recent months, and there was never a point in the Belgium GP weekend where he blamed himself for his shortcomings.

Speaking about Norris’ weekend, Naomi Schiff said: “It’s good to turn the page quickly. There isn’t too much to be disappointed by.

“He has got enough to be motivated by. He did put it on pole position - although I still think Oscar’s first run cost him, and a second lap could have been better than Lando’s.

“They are very closely matched. Apparently, Hungary is a circuit that Lando loves so who knows who will be quicker there.”