Nico Rosberg predicts McLaren win and lauds Lando Norris as ‘champion in the making’

Lando Norris aims for a third consecutive podium finish in the Belgian Grand Prix after emerging as the strongest contender to Max Verstappen in recent Formula 1 races.

Nico Rosberg predicts McLaren’s victory on the horizon as Lando Norris secures back-to-back podium finishes at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

McLaren’s recent performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix showcased their best back-to-back podium finishes since 2012, suggesting they currently possess a competitive car alongside Mercedes.

Norris and Oscar Piastri went from battling towards the back of the field in the opening races of the season to a different situation now.

The team’s pace at Silverstone has been transformed with a major upgrade package, despite claims from Norris that it doesn’t suit his driving style.

“The McLaren car is the real deal, that’s confirmed now. Of course there’s a very extreme track change now to Spa, but we’ve seen how rapid the McLaren is on the straights, so it should be fine there as well,” Rosberg said on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast.

“It’s such an impressive technical development that they’ve done during the season. That’s so unusual for a team to make such a massive jump, from like 13th to second, like it’s incredible what they’ve… and they’re challenging for the race win now, it’s coming, that race win.

“Lando is like a champion in the making, he’s world class, he’s incredible as a young driver. So, it’s unbelievable what they’ve done. I hope they understand it 100 per cent themselves – sometimes I’m not too sure if they really understand everything because these aerodynamics are just so complex with the ground effect. It’s very, very difficult to fully understand in the wind tunnel.

“It’s much more easy to see flow on top of a car than underneath because underneath then it also changes so much, with angle and with ride height, you know there’s very rapid effects going on there.

“But if they do understand it 100 per cent, it’s phenomenal. And they don’t even have their new wind tunnel up and running, they’re still using their old wind tunnel, which we know has massive limitations, so wow, incredible.”