Lando Norris & George Russell are '100%' future F1 champions

Lando Norris and George Russell can ‘absolutely 100 per cent’ become world champions, says Trevor Carlin, the man who helped them get to Formula One.

As the F1 circus heads to Silverstone for this weekend’s British Grand Prix, home fans can revel in the fact that there is not one, not two, but three elite drivers on the grid representing the UK.

Sir Lewis Hamilton needs no introduction of course – seven titles, 103 wins etc. – but it does look as if we are witnessing the beginning of the end for the 38-year-old.

Thankfully, Norris and Russell are more than ready to fly the flag for the next decade and beyond having consistently shown fantastic pace since making their debuts back in 2019.

The latter made a much anticipated move to Mercedes last year and though the Silver Arrows are not as imperious as they once were, the 25-year-old was still able to win his first race in Brazil and beat teammate Hamilton in the standings.

This year he is struggling a little, having finished on the podium just once in nine races and trailing Hamilton by 34 points, but Carlin, for whom Russell raced for in the 2015 Formula 3 European Championship has not a bad word to say about his former protege.

‘He’s doing an amazing job. He’s a real worker he won’t stop, he won’t leave any stone unturned to try and help make himself a better driver and help the team make him a better car,’ the team founder and manager exclusively told Metro Sport.

‘He’ll push and push and push, and the great thing is he’s got Lewis as a teammate and hopefully he’s learning from that and sometimes being beaten by your teammate is not a bad thing. It makes you realise you’re not invincible and you have to dig a bit deeper.

‘Who would want to be Lewis or Max [Verstappen]’s teammate at the end of the day? It’s the best job in the world and the worst job in the world.

‘If the stars align, he can absolutely be a champion. Mercedes have proved they can produce an incredible car and George is the rightful heir to that when Lewis decides to hang his helmet up.’

Norris is a driver that Carlin knows extremely well having competed for his team in a variety of series, most notably in Formula 2 in 2018 when he finished runner-up to Russell.

Though the 23-year-old has come close on a few occasions he is still waiting for his maiden victory but many greats of the sport have long tipped him to become the best on the grid, with Carlin ‘100 per cent’ sure he will be a champion.

He added: ‘Lando was exceptional when he first drove for us at 14-years-old and every time he’s driven a new car, he’s been quick. It’s his ability to adapt to situations, adapt to cars, different teams, different championships and always be fast.

‘And there’s no coincidence or luck. It’s pure ability from his side. Given the right equipment, on the right day he can fight to be world champion. We’ve seen many drivers who have got the ability but never make it, but I really, really hope that Lando gets the car he deserves to fight for the word championship because he can do it.

‘It’s his ability to do an incredible lap time in any conditions at any time. He is at his ultimate when it’s a damp track on a slick tyre and you’ve just got to do a magic lap. To my mind there are only three drivers on the grid who can do that: Lando Norris, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton.

‘They’ve just got this innate ability to find performance that the other 17 guys just can’t find. That is quite incredible, pure skill, it’s not practice or training, it’s just the ability to do something better than anyone else. Those three are the best in the world at the moment.’

Norris has only ever raced for McLaren and surprised many by signing a long contract to keep himself at the Woking-based team until 2025.

Though they proved themselves to be best of the rest around the turn of the decade, they haven’t adapted well to the new regulations and this season find themselves finishing outside of the points more than in them.

The Bristol-born driver has been quick to shutdown critics of his decision to stick with McLaren and Carlin has heaped praised on him for this.

‘It’s all well and good for people to say it was a bad decision but if you think about it Lando did the bulk of his karting with one team. He did the bulk of his junior racing with one team and he’s doing F1 with one team.

‘He’s a very, very loyal young man and I think a lot of that is lacking in our society. People are short term and take the easy way out. He’ll do everything he can to win with McLaren and he’ll be dearly hoping that McLaren can give him a car to be world champion

‘He doesn’t want to even consider breaking the contract. He’s not that kind of person. He wants to deliver the goods for the people at McLaren. He loves that team, he’s been there a long time. The mechanics and engineers are all his friends and nothing would make him happier than being world champion in a McLaren.

‘At some stage he’ll have to make a selfish decision for his own future because a driver only has one career. Obviously, his goal is world champion. But loyalty is a big thing for him and that is to be admired for a young man in this day and age.’

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