The following are my random thoughts and opinions, in no particular order, based on the past few Grand Prix races. But first, I need to be very clear about one thing: I really don’t like or dislike any driver on the grid more than any other. I’m driver-agnostic. Since I know that the things we see in the media are not accurate representations of who people really are, apparent personality (or lack thereof) is not a factor in my opinions. All I care about is a driver’s performance, both in and out of the car.
Because what I share here are opinions, you’re welcome to disagree. If you do, though, I’d ask you to think about things without having any bias due to driver personality.
Oh, and please, please, please, share your thoughts and opinions by clicking on the Comments button at the bottom of this article.
With that said, green, green, green!
Lando Norris is equally to blame for what happened in the Austrian Grand Prix. I bet that caught your attention! But, why? Because he put himself in position to have contact. A “rule” or guideline that all race drivers are taught from the beginning (and one that I believe should be modified, as I pointed out in Why So Many Crashes) is, “The overtaking driver is responsible for making a clean pass.” Lando was the overtaking driver.
Plus, he was doing what Verstappen reported over the radio to his race engineer: “He’s divebombing me.” This is what bothered me the most, primarily because I wanted to see a pass, and what he was doing was not going to work. While I said that I don’t have favorites in F1, again, I was hoping that Norris would get by Verstappen because it would make for a more interesting race. After watching him make partial and full attempts to pass into Turn 3, I told my wife that Lando needed to be smarter and more patient by getting close to Max entering the corner, but get his car slowed down enough so he could get back to power sooner than the Red Bull driver. Given that he’d have a DRS advantage on the following straight, it would have been easy to overtake leading into Turn 4. But each time he left his braking super-late, even overshooting the corner once, and getting poor exits off the turn. If Lando had managed himself better here, he would have cleared Verstappen, and the contact between them (with just over seven laps to go) would never have happened.
Watching F1 this year, there are two drivers who stand out as having better racecraft than the others: Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg. Do you see the common thread between these two? Both have spent time competing in endurance racing, where thereʻs more passing in one race than there is in a season of F1. Many F1 drivers do not have good racecraft abilities, meaning they don’t set up passes well, defend in way that doesn’t result in some form of blocking, or think strategically about overtaking.
Obviously, the media turned the Verstappen-Norris clash at the Red Bull Ring into a circus, with everyone having an opinion (hey, even me!), with the majority of people focusing on the actual incident that resulted in the McLaren driver DNFing, and Verstappen finishing 5th. Nowhere did I see any comments about what led up to the contact, and it wasn’t until four days later that the two drivers put everyone in their place. I’m a big fan of leaving it to drivers to sort out what happens on track, rather than FIA officials, and Lando came out and said that Max had no reason to apologize for what happened. Max’s main message was that he mostly wanted to maintain his friendly relationship with Lando, and both of them said they would do the same thing again — they both want to enjoy close racing battles.
Yay, racing drivers!
Was Verstappen totally innocent? Nope. In my way of thinking, both drivers are responsible to avoid contact, so yeah, Max should have left a bit more room for Norris. Of course, at those speeds, it’s easy to miss by a small amount. And really, the consequences of the incident were much bigger than the amount of contact suggested. The biggest no-no on Verstappen’s part was the way he tried to block once both cars were damaged.
It’s been fun to see Verstappen being pushed and having to work harder than he did last season. Compare the smile on his face after he surprised himself by qualifying on the pole at Imola, or even his second place finish in the British Grand Prix, and you can see he was enjoying the challenge.
Lewis Hamilton winning the British Grand Prix (just typing those words makes me think I’m repeating myself…) was great for him, and for F1. Say what you will about the 7-time World Champion, the thing that impresses me the most about him has nothing to do with his talent or skill. It’s his determination, sacrifice, and commitment to winning at the age of 39 (the same can be said for 42-year-old Fernando Alonso). When race drivers begin to “fade” in their career, it’s not that they’ve lost any skill or reaction time, or anything else other than the desire to do what it takes to be at the top. Sir Lewis has not lost that.
Daniel Ricciardo has all the skill and talent to win F1 races. He has lost some of the desire, and certainly confidence, though. Does he still have something to offer a F1 team? For the right team, yes. Will he win another Grand Prix? Not unless he can rekindle his desire and confidence (that last piece is partially determined by the team and its support), or gets lucky when driving a dominant car.
It’s sad to see Charles Leclercʻs performance and results bounce all over the place. I’m all for taking strategic risks to get a result, but only smart ones. Yes, Ferrari’s strategy calls have improved dramatically since Frédéric Vasseur became team principal, but it’s still inconsistent. The tire/pit calls in the Canadian and British races were… well, not smart. And I don’t know if Leclerc is strong enough to bring the team along to the next level, but perhaps next year when Hamilton is his teammate, the two of them will.
I know a driver who raced in various junior open-wheel series with Leclerc, Alex Albon, George Russell, Lando Norris, Nyck de Vries, Louis Deletraz, Alex Palou, Santino Ferruci, and others. I once asked him, “Who’s the best driver you’ve ever raced against?” Immediately, he replied, “George Russell. He was fast, and never made mistakes. Now, Leclerc… he was fast, but always made mistakes, just like now in F1.”
One thing I love to notice with drivers is their confidence levels. You can see it in the way they drive, and George Russell has got it this season. Out-qualifying a 7-time World Champion/teammate in Hamilton as many times as Russell has this season (10-2) says a lot. And if you’re thinking that Mercedes is giving him a better car than Hamilton has, think again. They want to win, that’s all that matters, to the point where I think Toto Wolff would have given Lewis the advantage just to prove the point that he shouldn’t be going to Ferrari next year — but I know that both drivers are given equal treatment. George Russell, given the right team and car, will be a World Champion.
When I look down the grid at the twenty F1 drivers, there are some who are already World Champions, some who could or should be (given the right team at the right time, because we all know there have been some of the best drivers ever who didn’t win a World Championship), and some who never will be. Want to see a list of drivers who I believe will never be champions?
- Logan Sargeant
- Alex Albon
- Zhou Guanyu
- Valtteri Bottas
- Yuki Tsunoda
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Kevin Magnussen
- Nico Hulkenberg
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Lance Stroll
- Sergio Perez
- Carlos Sainz
That’s more than half the grid. I should mention that I would like nothing more than for one of these drivers to prove me wrong. That would be very cool to see someone over-deliver on what I think they’re capable of.
So, why would any team deliberately hire a driver who will never be a World Champion? That, I don’t understand. Yuki Tsunoda is a very good driver, but he’s a Number 2, not a champion. Same with Sergio Perez, Valtteri Bottas, Nico Hulkenberg, and some others. Okay, I understand why Audi wants Hulkenberg: he’s German, and a really good, solid, technically-smart driver. He’s almost the perfect baseline for a manufacturer just joining F1. But he’s never going to be a champion. And who will be his teammate, hmmmm…?
Why doesn’t RB, Haas, Alpine, and Williams take a chance on hiring a young driver who might be a future World Champion? If I was making the decisions, RB would put Liam Lawson in for 2025, and Jack Doohan would be in at Alpine. If Mercedes doesn’t put Andrea Kimi Antonelli in alongside Russell, Williams should have him as number two to Albon (I’m sure the deal would be structured as an apprenticeship for the young Mercedes-managed driver). As for Haas, they’ve done the right thing to sign Oliver Bearman, but what they don’t have is a strong experienced driver for him to learn from (Kevin Magnussen is NOT the driver to be mentoring any young racer!). Haas is much stronger now that Guenther Steiner is no longer team principal.
Carlos Sainz had better hurry up and make a decision and sign with a team (assuming he hasn’t already and is keeping it quiet) or he’s going to end up driving for a team he doesn’t want. When the music stops, he may not have a seat at all. It seems the options are Alpine, Audi, Haas, or Williams. I’m sure he won’t be making the same salary he’s been taking home from Ferrari, but come on, whether it’s $14 or $4 million, is that going to make or break his life going forward? I’m sure what’s weighing on his mind is that the opportunity to win a World Championship has slipped away. While I think he is one of the very best number two drivers in F1, that’s not going to cut it if he ends up at any one of the four options he has.
Lance Stroll… Let me share some reality here. How many sons of multi-billionaires decide to pass on an easy life of lounging around on a yacht in the Monaco harbor, partying with friends (and when you have the money that Lance will be inheriting, you’d have no shortage of “interesting” friends), and instead choose to spend every waking moment of their life training to be one of the best drivers in the world? Give the guy credit where credit is due, and Lance Stroll deserves it. Okay, he’s not exactly Mr. Personality, but he’s out-qualified his teammate, Fernando Alonso, five times this year (to Alonso’s seven), and once again at the British GP, finished ahead of him. If a driver that grew up with no family backing was performing that well, would there be as many “He doesn’t belong in F1” comments? Nope. The guy has worked his way into F1, and has performed as well or better than half the other drivers on the grid.
Oscar Piastri is an interesting one. If he’s treated the way he currently is at McLaren, he won’t win a World Championship. He definitely has the skills, talent, and drive to do so, but McLaren — in my opinion — is not giving him the mental and strategic support that he needs. To win a championship, then, either Lando Norris needs to move to another team and Oscar be elevated to number one status, or Piastri himself needs to move to another team. Or, maybe Piastri pushes past some of the inner-team limitations and proves he’s number one? I’m not suggesting that McLaren is dramatically favoring one driver over the other, but when you’re talking about thousandths of a second separating drivers, it could be as subtle as one pat on the back that makes the difference. Or a different pit strategy call.
As McLaren’s number one, Lando Norris is making too many mistakes. Add up all the errors he’s made this season — including his decision to put on soft compound tires at the end of the British GP — eliminate them, and he would be much closer to Verstappen in championship points (not 84 points behind). Until he improves in this area, the jury (that group of unbiased people living in my head!) is out on whether he will ever be World Champion. Norris himself is making comments about having to improve the decisions and eliminate the mistakes: “I’m not making the right decisions. I blame myself today for not making some of the right decisions. I hate it. I hate ending in this position and forever having excuses for not doing a good enough job.” Hmmm, what does this say about his current state of self-belief?
You’re looking at the throttle (on your left) and brake (on your right) pedals, from the front of the car, looking back towards the driver.
Speaking of Lando Norris, I just came across this fantastic video of his feet while driving a lap of Silverstone in 2022. This is why he’s so fast! The brake release is so measured, controlled and smooth! Check it out at: Pedal Cam!
Now, everything I’ve said here could change if a team comes up with a dominant car, especially when the new rules package goes into effect in 2026. Where are you going, Adrian Newey?
P.S. – The “quote of the year” award goes to Williams team principal James Vowles when asked to comment on something the RB team was doing during a Sky Sports race coverage, and he referred to them as, “Don’t ask me what they’re called, Alpha Tauri, Visa Cash App, Buy One Get One Free….”