'Unhappy with second place' - Hill judges F1's future stars

F1 News

Damon Hill on Lando Norris desire to push himself
Today at 08:00
1
  • Ben Stevens
  • Editor

Lando Norris is currently fighting for a world championship. Despite still being 52 points behind Max Verstappen, the Brit is the closest to stopping the Dutchman from winning a fourth straight drivers championship. 1996 world champion Damon Hill has given his views on the characteristics that make Norris a title challenger, and gives his opinion on who else could challenge next season.

Norris 'has the ingredients'

Speaking on the F1 Explains podcast, Damon Hill reveals why he thinks Norris' characteristics make him push himself to the limit. “I think he's got the ingredients,” Hill began. “I think he's got the qualities. I think he's got that dissatisfaction with second place. I saw some comments he made over the summer break, where he said he wasn’t good enough in the early part of this season.

“That's the sign of someone who's really going to put himself to the test. He’s not going to be comfortable just being good enough. He wants to be the best.”

Hill carried on to explain which other drivers on the Formula 1 grid could also challenge at the top of the grid in the future. “Give Oscar [Piastri] a few more seasons, as many seasons as Lando has had, and he'll have learned so much more. He’ll look back at his performances now and realise he didn’t have the ingredients he needs yet. He's still learning. He's got the talent, definitely, and he's got the determination. I'm very impressed with Oscar."

The British pundit also believes that George Russell and Charles Leclerc are also two to keep an eye on.  “I would not discount George Russell. I think George is definitely a contender. And Charles Leclerc is a typical Ferrari driver in many ways. It's win or bust with Charles, it seems to me, but you can win a championship like that.”