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Former feeder series champions welcome next rookies: 'Sport's in safe hands'
Going through the ranks in junior series, George Russell and Oscar Piastri both won Formula 2 and Formula 3 titles (Russell did when the competition was called GP3), and now, both drivers are Formula One Grand Prix winners and compete at frontrunner teams. Similarly to Max Verstappen, they believe the competition is in good hands in terms of its future, even as the three had different paths to F1.
Ahead of the 2024 season, there were not changes on the F1 grid, and two F2 champions, Theo Pourchaire and Felipe Drugovich failed to progress up the ladder. That will be different in 2025. Next season, as Oliver Bearman at Haas, Andrea Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes, and Jack Doohan at Alpine will become full-time drivers in the competition, while Liam Lawson returns after now replacing Daniel Ricciardo full-time in 2024, and Franco Colapinto has already earned his first points after replacing Logan Sargeant.
George Russell himself won the GP3 and then the F2 title in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018, and then graduated to Formula One in 2019. "In Junior Series, at the very sharp end, you're racing against the very best of that level, and if any driver were to win, you know, F4, F3, and F2 in their first seasons, for sure you're going to be more than capable of fighting at the very front in Formula 1," he believes about progression in feeder series.
"I know there's a couple of guys who are doing very well in the junior formulas now and have won from the very off. No doubt they'll be in Formula 1 in the years to come and will for sure be competitive," the Briton praised the future of motorsport.
Piastri also shares experience
"I think to win in any championship in the world, there’s going to be tough competition, in particular on the way up to F1. It’s very very tough. We're going to have a lot of rookies next year and I think even last week, with Franco and Ollie, I think they proved that the sport is in safe hands for many years to come," the now two-time Grand Prix winner began.
Piastri himself won the F2 title in 2021, however, that did not mean an instant promotion to F1 with Alpine. The Australian eventually signed with McLaren in 2023. "I think if you have success on the way up, then, of course, it's a nice confidence boost that you can have success at the very top. It's never guaranteed. And even getting to the top, there's other factors apart from winning," he added.
"Sometimes winning doesn't always show the full picture. Like I said, there are a lot of variables in motorsport, a lot of which you can't control. So, yeah, I think just showing to the right people, even if you're not necessarily winning, what you're capable of is very important," the McLaren driver concluded.
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27 September 2024
