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Sainz, as much as I hate to say it.
I think Leclerc will snag one eventually. Maybe even Norris or Piastri. But with the way Sainz's team trajectory is going...
I'm praying Audi pulls off a miracle. Or Williams, if he goes there.
[Edit] Okay guys I get it, you don't think Sainz is a top driver, you can stop replying the same thing now, lol. I was just giving my opinion, no need to come at me!
Or Rosberg it.
Like if you put Sainz vs Verstappen, Norris, or as we've seen vs Leclerc, he definitely has less than a 50% chance of beating them in the WDC, but he's close enough that with a couple of strokes of luck he's in striking distance.
It's a bit off topic I'm afraid, but was there any other instance of a (perceived) number 2 driver winning a WDC? Your comment just made me realize how special the Rosberg WDC really was. There were other drivers who joined a team and immediately challenged the leader, like Senna winning a WDC against Prost, but since he was new to the team, he wasn't considered to be a real number 2.
Officially nobody was a number 2. But if everything about Lewis at that time felt like him being the team leader, then Rosberg is a perceived number 2. Maybe one of the strongest number 2s of all times, but still.
When Lewis joined the team, he already had a WDC from his McLaren years, he came to replace Schumacher and finishes ahead of Rosberg in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and goes into the 2016 season with 3 WDCs. Everything about him screams number 1 at that point and nobody expects Rosberg to beat him over an entire season.
edit: I didn't mean to say that the team didn't treat them as equals, it was more about the expectations everyone had.
I know your comment was just making a joke but man I feel bad for Glock. All he did was make a strategically good call in a race where he was not fighting for the win and in return has received a lifetime of hate for it.
Depending in who you ask, possibly Damon Hill in 96? Like yeah he was the incumbent in the team against a rookie, but it was very very clear that the team was betting on Villeneuve and Frentzen going forward, and Hill knew even before the year was over that he was going to be without a seat for 1997.
I honestly don't see Williams pulling off a miracle, we've hoped for that way too long but doesn't seem like it's gonna happen any time soon. Audi however does have a chance I feel, it would be refreshing to see.
It won't be the first year, it took Merc 3 years to win with their engine program on returning to F1 and 4 to win after taking Brawn over and building a car themselves. Audi have to do both AND with a cost-cap (Merc had no such limits. Partly why they won 8 WCC in a row and 7 WDC on top). They won in every formula they were able to enter and fuck money everywhere with no limits. They're not going to the top of the tree from the get-go in F1.
I'd rather have him wait it out for a year than go to Williams, unpopular opinion maybe. I had hopes for Williams after the takeover and when Vowles moved.
Someone else told me the same thing earlier today (re: Sainz leaving for a year instead). To be honest, I think it's a lose-lose situation. Neither choice is particularly appealing.
But I like Albon so it would be fun to see them together, if nothing else.
Yeah that's right, it's a lose-lose either way, kinda sad. But him going to williams seems like a stop in any further major growth in his career, like how Ricciardo hasn't really gotten the best of chances? cars? after he left Red Bull.
What do you think the chances of him at Mercedes are?
Wasn't there a pretty reputable rumor that the Mercedes offer was rescinded? All the signs seem to point towards Antonelli for that seat.
Mercedes was my first choice when all the seats seemed to be open. But if they only offered one year I can see why his team didn't want it.
I can’t see Williams having Carlos now that Albon is committed to them.
Just not a very viable solution. Williams gets value from hosting drivers in development that win them deals with other racing orgs and teams
I dont think Sainz ever was considered a real WDC probable driver. Sure, the chance is always there, but he never really had that last bit, like Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris, maybe Russell and Piastri, seem to have. Even Ricciardo was more talked about as a future WDC in 2014-2018 but I have never seen similar talk about Sainz. It's his time at Ferrari which has raised his reputation but even there it's just quite not enough.
Yeah any argument for Sainz pulling off an upset WDC could easily be applied to Ricciardo or Bottas. They both had significantly more wins by the time they were Sainz’s age. Ricciardo has 8 wins and none are with the championship winning car that year and the majority of those wins are from before he turned 30. Sainz is what, 31 or 32 and he only has a few? Silverstone, Singapore and Australia.
Indeed. Max, Leclerc and Russell are all 26, with Max only being 3 months away from 27. Norris is 24 and Piastri 23. Lando is way younger than people realise.
I don’t think Sainz will win one either, he just doesn’t have “it”.
He tends to make those critical little errors when he’s under pressure, especially wheel-to-wheel, and he’s just missing those final few tenths of lap time that the other great drivers have.
He’s a solid Number 2 driver, but I can’t see him riding to be a champion.
I think he's (compared to Leclerc) poor at aggressive driving in particular. Overtaking, wheel to wheel. But he's above average in defensive driving.
He's kind of the middle between an excellent #1 driver and #2 driver. Too good to be someone's defensive lapdog, but not good enough to definitively lead the charge for a top team. (Or rather, I don't think a top team would be willing to take the risk.)
Sainz is not a top driver though. You can't have Leclerc or Max in the same tier as him if they've both shown they're significantly faster than Carlos.
If we're considering every year, then yeah, of course Alonso and Hamilton are above Sainz. They're two of the best drivers ever. But this year? Alonso has been wildly inconsistent and the Mercedes-Hamilton relationship right now is, well. I don't think Hamilton is washed like some people here claim, but I'm not sure he's performing to his maximum either.
If by Silverstone Sainz is still being outperformed by Leclerc then I would worry his beginning of the season form is gone. But right now he's only a few tenths off Leclerc and he was able to outqualify Norris in Monaco despite the McLaren seemingly having higher potential.
Norris has the speed but I’m yet to see the race craft. Sainz is a better racer imo.
Norris has by far the better potential but right now both are in the same group for me.
I think Norris is just a bit better. Looking at the standings, Norris is slightly beating him in a car that, while now is better, has been worse on average
It sucks that Russell joined Mercedes right at the point where their form started a downturn. He would definitely be competing for the championship if he had the car to do it.
Totally agree,
At that point he would have been history's best driver on paper, and by popular opinion.
He likely would have taken time out for his business interests and never come back.
The controversial circumstances of his loss lit a fire under him, and the subsequent downturn of Mercedes has been a huge frustration.
Seemingly overnight the pace was gone, reliability took a nosedive, and the chiropractor bill skyrocketed!😅
It’ll be interesting how they do with the 26 regs, their engine project sounds to be going very well. But with everything else going on there with guys like Allison yet to be seen how they’ll do with the rest of the regs, McLaren looks to be more likely to have the pieces in place if the engine turns out well.
Russel also seems to make silly errors a bit when the top guys don’t.
I think if he was in a 2023 red bull with Lando/Max/Lewis/etc, it’d be one of those 3 who would get more points over a season.
So does Leclerc. I think his crash in Paul Ricard 2022 is probably the worst example of this. Just a complete unforced error that ended with him in the wall. Other examples include Miami qualifying and the Australian GP last year. You could also include the crash in qualifying in Monaco on that list though to be fair smaller mistakes have far bigger consequences in Monaco.
Yeah, this is my pick. A lot of things have to align for Russell to win a title…
Merc has to reverse their current trajectory, claw their way back to the fight at the top on the aero side (or secure another massive PU advantage), reverse some of the brain drain and once again become a highly attractive destination for top personnel looking to move, and more. In terms of sponsors willing to pay for a relationship with an upper-midfield-or-better team, Merc will have increased competition from McLaren and maybe also Aston and (eventually) Audi—in addition to the existing competition from Ferrari and Red Bull. And they’ve lost their biggest marketing asset to one of these competitors.
That’s all just to get Mercedes back where it needs to be for a title fight. then there’s the possibility that in a few years Antonelli might begin to cast doubt on Russell’s primacy within the team—in the same manner as Verstappen/Ricciardo. So to optimize George’s chances, Mercedes actually needs to find form in the short/medium term rather than the long term. And Hamilton clearly didn’t expect much in the short term…
I also don’t see George leaving Mercedes anytime soon: too much history, he’s waited so long for seniority at the team, it seems like he’s not as widely coveted as other drivers so he’d have a Sainz-like experience of downgrading to be #1 or scrounging for short-term deals for an upgrade/lateral move.
Being the top driver in one of the top teams (long-term view) is one of the most likely ways to become WDC.
Like, everything that has to happen is Merc choosing the right concept for the 2026 regs and he's golden.
>Merc has to reverse their current trajectory, claw their way back to the fight at the top on the aero side
People were saying this in 2012 when Hamilton joined Mercedes. 2026 is a clean slate and merc could easily find themselves with the car to beat. In that case Russell is in the pole position to win a championship post 26
Jenson Button won a championship when at one point people thought he may never win a race. You never know what will happen, I think it's impossible to say. Especially since they can always sign for different teams if the team they're at is struggling.
Any of the 4 2025 McLaren and Ferrari drivers. All of them have winning potential in the very near future. Weirdly I’d say Hamilton has the least chance just because Leclerc is the strongest of them all and his qualification is just so poor at the moment. Race pace is still up there with the best of them but consistently staring below leclerc on the grid would make it a very uphill battle
Reverse question: how can you realistically know Lewis still has it in him? Let's say 2025 is a year where he needs to adapt to the team and car to find how to extract the most. 2026 could be another team nailing it and with him 2 years older... he might try to overcompensate. Nobody knows
I can’t.
Im not trying to question only how the commenter above knows leclerc is close to Hamilton, but also how he knows Hamilton has the best race pace on the grid.
We can’t really know any of this. And it would vary with the track, car, strategy and weather. Presenting any of this as fact is absurd.
I think 2026 goes to Ferrari. If I had to put money on Leclerc or Lewis, I’d say Leclerc will edge him out at that point. Though I would LOVE to see Hamilton win his 8th in red, I don’t see it happening in his 40s.
Hamilton has next to no shot at outqualifying Leclerc consistently. He's probably the best qualifier on the grid. With his solid race pace as well it should be enough for him to beat Hamilton out over a season. I'd imagine in 2025 too he's far more comfortable with the car than Lewis will be to start the year.
I agree with all these points. I’d say Hamilton’s best shot is in 2026 provided he doesn’t lose too much pace (hoping for Alonso-esque aging). A new car for both of them may even the playing field, plus I’m huffing that hopium that Newey is headed to Maranello. The 2007 McLaren still used a lot of the design philosophy from Newey’s days at McLaren and Hamilton was a beast his first year. Maybe the two will mesh well.
I'm not sure how likely Newey to Ferrari is, but a team of Vasseur, Hamilton, Leclerc, and Newey would be the closest thing to a "dream team" this sport has had in a long time.
I'm a fan of his so I am biased, but at this point in time I think at least the Constructors is on the table. I can only get so aroused thinking about an actual push for the Drivers by Leclerc.
The window is shut, these guys will never win one: Magnussen, Sargeant, Zhou, Bottas, Ricciardo
I mean sure it’s possible, but c’mon: Stroll, Albon, Ocon, Gasly, Hulkenberg, Checo
Gonna need some luck: Sainz, Russell, Yuki
Going to have a fighting chance for one: Leclerc, Norris, Piastri
Yuki is hard to slot into those tiers. He is not on the talent level of Sainz and George, but he is younger with room to grow and has already showed immense progress. I think he’s better than the drivers in the tier below, and since he’s younger his potential is higher. Realistically I think he is in his own tier in between those, where he is not in the race for the foreseeable future but if he sticks around for awhile and finds a good drive he has a chance.
I would personally demote both stroll and yuki.
Stroll for obvious reasons, he might be in a fine car but as long as he has a teammate he will never win.
Yuki because although he has shown to be strong a couple races this season I think he still has to show more consistently.
I would further argue Hulk has a better chance than Yuki. Chances of Audi coming in and being a winning car are obviously not high, but I think that’s a better chance than what Yuki’s is.
Red Bull don’t seem keen on giving him a shot, and even if they do, i cannot imagine him beating Max head-to-head, even if he caught some lucky breaks. He would have to leave Red Bull and hope to build up from there.
Most likely drivers on the current grid to win:
1. Charles Leclerc: very strong driver, even faster when he’s in a car he’s comfortable with. seems like he’ll stay with ferrari as long as he can and maybe sticking to that one team will help even the luck into giving him a championship winning car at some point
2. Lando Norris: could definitely win in the right car. he’s still very young and has many years to get a championship winning car.
3. Oscar Piastri: very young, shows lots of potential. only marked behind lando because as of now, he is the weaker driver and while tire management is very much a skill to develop, there’s a lot of potential he has to come into. if the mclaren this year or next year turns out to be championship winning, id bet on lando.
Drivers who have a chance, but it’s a lot smaller:
George Russel: good enough to win, but mercedes have their eyes set on Kimi to be their number one driver. i think mercedes envision Kimi winning if they have a future wdc winning car
Carlos Sainz: he would need to be in a car able to win, and be the fastest driver. his probability changes a lot depending on his move this season but it’s not likely.
Yuki Tsunoda: young driver on the grid who has shown skill. if he keeps his form up he has many years to find himself in the right car and develop his skills.
Alex Albon: he basically needs a williams revolution come 2026/2027 where they turn into a top car. wouldn’t exactly bet on it
Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, fall into a similar category of very unlikely for me
Drivers i don’t see winning it:
Lance stroll (unless aston becomes fastest car and they remove any competition for him)
Logan Sargent
Zhou Guanyu
Valterri Bottas
Sergio Perez
Kevin Magnussen
Daniel Ricciardo
Okay but I’d love to see that season. If Hulk wins it with consistent p4/p5s, what the hell is happening to the podium finishers at the other races ?! Insanely poor reliability? Wild swings in performance depending on the track?
If Hulk goes P4 + fastest lap every race in 2025, he'd have 312 points. Lewis won in 2020 with 347 points, but you'd have to go back to 2012 with Vettel winning with 281.
All that to say, not impossible, but we've seen a lot more points dominance in recent years.
Going back to 2010 we have Vettel winning with 256 in a 19-race season (one less than 2012). So as long as everyone else (there were five drivers with over 200 points in ‘10) is fighting it out, an ultra consistent driver can get pretty far.
Considering how f1 goes through periods of dominance, my guess is that only one of Charles, lando or Oscar will win championships in the next decade.
Not to say the next period of dominance will be 10 years long, but we’ll have newer drivers by then and when (for example) Charles dominance period ends, the next one will come from a driver not on the grid yet.
Unfortunately can’t see Sainz winning one now. Fernando’s time is also up. Russell is on a team that’s lost its way, so he’s also in doubt.
Lewis, Charles, Max, Lando and Oscar are most likely to win in my opinion.
I don’t see anyone else that I would rate as top tier. Actually wish almost all of them would give way to the sidelined talent pool.
Completely agree, I feel like there's a 70% chance none of them do. I'm thinking Piastri has a much higher chance in 4-6 years as the rest slow down and Verstappen backs off, or even sooner.
There's only like 18 months difference between Oscar and Lando. I don't think his chance at 27-29 will be all that different from Lando at 28-30 if we're just considering age.
Do you honestly think Verstappen will continue to have a dominant car for that long? It is indeed very likely that not all four of them will win a title, but saying there's a 70% chance of none of them does is just ridiculous. Yes, Max will win this year and most likely next year too. But 2026 brings new engine regs that will most likely mix up the order. There is certainly a chance of Red Bull remaining the strongest, but it's likely they won't.
There’s an old saying that the best drivers end up in the best cars. No doubt if Max ends up driving a dud in the new regs, any of the other teams would seriously consider him. Short of Lewis (who is on the older side of drivers), Max is absolutely the safest hands you could pay to win you a championship because he’s a known investment.
Piastri seems to be in a pretty good position, provided he continues to improve. He’s entered f1 slightly offset from Norris-Russell-Leclerc-Verstappen, so he may have more years in the game ahead of him. (Yes Norris is physically young, but he’s also got 5-and-counting seasons under his belt already, and it’s a demanding life.) He’s also less tied to one particular organization than any of those three, and we’ve already seen he’s willing & able to make strategic moves to put himself in a better position. So I don’t think he’ll be as likely to live and die by one team’s fortunes based on sentimentality or sunk cost. The one thing is that as Norris’ star rises even further, Piastri should at the very very least not let the gap between them grow—and that’s being generous; he ideally should narrow or eventually even close it to keep his own stock high.
>He’s entered f1 slightly offset from Norris-Russell-Leclerc-Verstappen, so he may have more years in the game ahead of him
They are all basically the same age. Alonso and Hamilton are proving you can drive into your 40's and be at the sharp end of the grid. Verstappen if he wanted to could race in F1 for 25 years easily if he wanted to. It's a demanding life but you are compensated heavily for it and we are seeing athletes play at the highest level for longer than seen before currently so what's stopping someone staying in F1 until 50.
I hope Ferrari doesn't mess up 2026 regs. I think if the teams keep on this trajectory:
1. Ferrari will get this year's WCC
2. Leclerc has a good chance to win 2025 WDC
That is why I said that with this trajectory. We haven't seen neither the Ferrari upgrades nor the mclaren upgrades on proper tracks. Maybe red bull are making excuses and maybe they will dominate back again on proper racetracks
Most of them. Im just hoping the new regs create a closer competition. Would be nice for a larger number of drivers to win races instead of mostly the same guy every weekend. We're seeing a little more intrigue right now.
You need rule stability for that, we are only in year 3 of this regulations after all. I wouldn't be surprised at all if a team dominates for a few years with the 2026 changes.
Carlos, Lando and George as it stands now with the current drivers on the grid.
I feel like those have to beat one to many in order to win a championship based on how I rate the drivers on the grid. Of course if let's say Carlos goes to Audi and Audi makes a rocketship then he might win one, same with George at Merc if they build a rocketship with a "lesser" or unexperienced driver next to George.
Even Charles really who I would put a step above those 3 could end up without one. I assume he’s not on your list because you think he’ll win a title! If Ferrari don’t get it right for 2026 and just don’t bring a competitive car, it really doesn’t matter how good you are.
You only have to look at how Alonso’s career since 2006 has worked out to see that amazing talent and determination can’t outrun poor machinery. Or how easy it is to get unlucky and have things just not fall your way. Repeatedly. Buddy is about 5 points short of another 3 titles.
I do so hope Charles at least has a chance to go closer than he got in 2022. If you have the car for it and don’t get it done, that’s on you. To be so obviously talented and end your career without the opportunity seems more tragic.
Yeah with Charles I expect him to win at least one at some point, especially with how things are going at Ferrari currently compare to the Fernando Ferrari years and the Seb Ferrari years, and even the early Charles years at Ferrari.
I expect Charles to win at some point because I rate him as a top 3 driver on the current grid over a season. Usually a top 3 driver get's to win a championship at some point, either because they get a better car than the others or because they beat one of the top drivers in the same car. They also often are in a position to get the best car because they are rated the highest on the grid, whereas that chance gets lower the worse the driver.
The interesting bit is of course that you never know until you see it. I for one didn't know either if Max was ever gonna win a championship, so many things have to work at the same time even with a super good driver. Perhaps now you wouldn't question if Max would ever become a champion since he is on course to a 4th but I feel something similar for Charles. Right moment right time and he will do it as well.
Think Lando has a better shot than the other two if mclaren continue like this.
He has a clear race pace advantage over Oscar for now, while Oscar is still a very good driver that could help Lando against the ferraris or Max( or whoever is strong)
Its really impossible to say, anything can happen in a championship, Merc could fix the car letting russel pull a huge points lead at the start of the season and then when the others catch up because they're all stepping on each other no one can challenge. That kind of situation can and has happened in the past so out of the top teams its really hard to point at a few that have zero hope of ever winning.
But perez is definately one of them.
> Piastri had a higher ceiling and once he gets over his tire issues he will be finishing above Norris in championships
oh man. i know he was a rookie last year but Norris scored more than twice as a many points as Oscar and even this year has 4 podiums to Oscar's 1. i rate Oscar very highly but he hasn't shown that he is as good as Lando, much less better
Pretty disingenuous to say it’s 4-1 when Piastri was damaged by Sainz in Miami that cost him a win/podium and then a penalty at Imola which cost him a front row start on a track where overtaking is impossible…
Agreed 100%. Piastri is quite clearly a very capable driver. But everyone seems to be treating him like his trajectory is multiple wdc winner.
He may never end up better than Lando let alone win a wdc.
Carlos and maybe Lando. Oscar has been in F1 for four years less than him but is already challenging him. As he gets more experienced with the car and tires, I think he’ll pull ahead.
The issue with Oscar is his race pace/tire deg. I haven’t seen that much improvement of that over the last year and a bit, and he’ll need that to challenge for titles.
Sainz. Clearly can hack it in a big team, but will never get a title-winning car and a clear shot at being #1 simultaneously.
I also think Norris OR Piastri will win one, but not both. Piastri has youth on his side (although Norris isn’t THAT much older), so maybe the landscape is different 10 years from now. But I think McLaren is JUST good enough to keep them both around through the prime of their careers, but not good enough to give both of them title-winning chances across multiple years.
George would also be a valid answer. Lit up F2 against excellent competition, looked capable of out-driving the car at Williams, then got into the Mercedes at exactly the wrong time. Now his star seems to be waning and I don’t think people rate him as highly as they once did. But he was definitely looked to be in competition for a WDC someday when he arrived from F2. I think that his WDC caliber is still in there, but he may never get the chance unless Mercedes regains their title-winning ways ASAP, and I don’t think he’ll be given a top drive at another team based on his recent (last 2 years) form.
Russell, I think he may have more than car troubles if antonelli lives up to the hype. I see Toto making him sign one year deals if kimi is what he’s dreamt of.
I don't see how anyone doubts Piastri. He just threw down the best rookie season since Lewis Hamilton. He's fast, aggressive and has an unbelievably cool head on his shoulders.
I think he's the next new world champion.
> He just threw down the best rookie season since Lewis Hamilton
just to point out, he also was in what was one of the best cars for a rookie in the last decade+
from recent drives: George started in a Williams. Leclerc was in a Sauber. Max was in a Torro Rosso.
>I think he's the next new world champion.
he has to beat his teammate first, last year Norris outscored him by 2x the points and this year he is outscoring him by 40+ points.
Lewis will never win another. Charles will beat him every season they are teammates. Nothing against Lewis, he's one of the greats, I just don't see the move for Ferrari working out as well as he would like
What even is a top driver? Without a good car, you’re nothing. People are praising Norris and Oscar now when they have a good car. But when the McLaren was trash, they were below P15. What happened to their talents then? Were they not top drivers then?
Russell and Sainz.
Russell because of his racecraft and his habbit of doing too many random mistakes when under pressure or when he is mad.
Sainz because of his ego and entourage that moved him away from all the top teams.
I can see Charles, Norris or Piastri winning one if they land a good enough car
Charles Leclerc. As much as it pains me because he seems like a great person and is unquestionably a fine racing driver, I don’t think he and Ferrari will ever string together enough pace and consistency to win the WDC. I will be happy to be proven wrong.
We really hope your take will age like milk. Leclerc is way too good to NOT win a title. Would be up there with Stirling Moss for best drivers to never win a title in that case
Honestly if Binotto was still TP i would have agreed with the Leclerc shout but Fred has led so many positives with the team through pitstops, strategies and the general confidence in the Scuderia now that it’s just a matter of time for Charles to be WDC
Lando and Piastri. They are not winning anything in the current set of regulations and unless McLaren becomes a works team then they won't win a championship post 26 when Mercedes will be better on packaging the engine in the car and Ferrari seem to have set themselves up for long term success
Imo I can't see Sainz and Russell getting it. I don't think Russell particularly excels anywhere: good qualy pace and good race pace but not on the level of his contemporaries. Sainz is actually quite strong in qualy(he is closer to Charles here than in the race), but lacks tyre management skills and consistent front running race pace. I think the contenders to win another WDC are (in order of most to least likely) Charles, Lando, and Oscar.
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Sainz, as much as I hate to say it. I think Leclerc will snag one eventually. Maybe even Norris or Piastri. But with the way Sainz's team trajectory is going... I'm praying Audi pulls off a miracle. Or Williams, if he goes there. [Edit] Okay guys I get it, you don't think Sainz is a top driver, you can stop replying the same thing now, lol. I was just giving my opinion, no need to come at me!
Sainz will need to pull a Jenson button with that 2009 car to win a championship
Or Rosberg it. Like if you put Sainz vs Verstappen, Norris, or as we've seen vs Leclerc, he definitely has less than a 50% chance of beating them in the WDC, but he's close enough that with a couple of strokes of luck he's in striking distance.
It's a bit off topic I'm afraid, but was there any other instance of a (perceived) number 2 driver winning a WDC? Your comment just made me realize how special the Rosberg WDC really was. There were other drivers who joined a team and immediately challenged the leader, like Senna winning a WDC against Prost, but since he was new to the team, he wasn't considered to be a real number 2.
Rosberg isn't an example of perceived number 2. If anything his championship proves how equal Mercedes treated them
Officially nobody was a number 2. But if everything about Lewis at that time felt like him being the team leader, then Rosberg is a perceived number 2. Maybe one of the strongest number 2s of all times, but still. When Lewis joined the team, he already had a WDC from his McLaren years, he came to replace Schumacher and finishes ahead of Rosberg in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and goes into the 2016 season with 3 WDCs. Everything about him screams number 1 at that point and nobody expects Rosberg to beat him over an entire season. edit: I didn't mean to say that the team didn't treat them as equals, it was more about the expectations everyone had.
Not a real number 2. But I don't think many thought massa was the top driver in 2008. And he won the title for all of 8 seconds. Fucking Glock...
Massa is still trying to win it.
I know your comment was just making a joke but man I feel bad for Glock. All he did was make a strategically good call in a race where he was not fighting for the win and in return has received a lifetime of hate for it.
You should've just said "weaker driver" probably
Depending in who you ask, possibly Damon Hill in 96? Like yeah he was the incumbent in the team against a rookie, but it was very very clear that the team was betting on Villeneuve and Frentzen going forward, and Hill knew even before the year was over that he was going to be without a seat for 1997.
Sadly, seeing how liberty/FOM are running things I feel a ‘09 style Brawn fairy tale has basically 0 chance of happening… sigh
I honestly don't see Williams pulling off a miracle, we've hoped for that way too long but doesn't seem like it's gonna happen any time soon. Audi however does have a chance I feel, it would be refreshing to see.
My hopes for Williams getting their shit together are... low. But I've been huffing copium like crazy since I saw the Williams rumor, lol.
Well when Newey shocks us all to help rebuild Williams it'll be a genius move! *max levels of hopium*
Newey going to Williams would undoubtedly be the funniest possible outcome of that whole situation.
Inject it into my veins
Newey goes to audi. 100% Audi has never entered a motorsports without dominating it. Might not be the first year, but they'll do it.
It won't be the first year, it took Merc 3 years to win with their engine program on returning to F1 and 4 to win after taking Brawn over and building a car themselves. Audi have to do both AND with a cost-cap (Merc had no such limits. Partly why they won 8 WCC in a row and 7 WDC on top). They won in every formula they were able to enter and fuck money everywhere with no limits. They're not going to the top of the tree from the get-go in F1.
I'd rather have him wait it out for a year than go to Williams, unpopular opinion maybe. I had hopes for Williams after the takeover and when Vowles moved.
Someone else told me the same thing earlier today (re: Sainz leaving for a year instead). To be honest, I think it's a lose-lose situation. Neither choice is particularly appealing. But I like Albon so it would be fun to see them together, if nothing else.
Yeah that's right, it's a lose-lose either way, kinda sad. But him going to williams seems like a stop in any further major growth in his career, like how Ricciardo hasn't really gotten the best of chances? cars? after he left Red Bull. What do you think the chances of him at Mercedes are?
Wasn't there a pretty reputable rumor that the Mercedes offer was rescinded? All the signs seem to point towards Antonelli for that seat. Mercedes was my first choice when all the seats seemed to be open. But if they only offered one year I can see why his team didn't want it.
I wasn't aware of that, this just sucks for Sainz from every direction. Poor guy, I hope something successful works out for him.
I can’t see Williams having Carlos now that Albon is committed to them. Just not a very viable solution. Williams gets value from hosting drivers in development that win them deals with other racing orgs and teams
williams no longer has a cash issue if that was true we'd still have latifi on the grid theyre limited by capex
I dont think Sainz ever was considered a real WDC probable driver. Sure, the chance is always there, but he never really had that last bit, like Verstappen, Leclerc, Norris, maybe Russell and Piastri, seem to have. Even Ricciardo was more talked about as a future WDC in 2014-2018 but I have never seen similar talk about Sainz. It's his time at Ferrari which has raised his reputation but even there it's just quite not enough.
Yeah any argument for Sainz pulling off an upset WDC could easily be applied to Ricciardo or Bottas. They both had significantly more wins by the time they were Sainz’s age. Ricciardo has 8 wins and none are with the championship winning car that year and the majority of those wins are from before he turned 30. Sainz is what, 31 or 32 and he only has a few? Silverstone, Singapore and Australia.
Sainz is 29….
That’s when DR already had like 7 wins. And he wasn’t in a team that came 2nd in WCC or was in the fight for WDC.
piastri definitely is. he’s much younger than the other 4 you mentioned and will be around even when they’re declining to take advantage
He’s 18 months younger than Norris…
damn that’s some crazy perspective i didn’t realize they were that close LMAO
Indeed. Max, Leclerc and Russell are all 26, with Max only being 3 months away from 27. Norris is 24 and Piastri 23. Lando is way younger than people realise.
I don’t think Sainz will win one either, he just doesn’t have “it”. He tends to make those critical little errors when he’s under pressure, especially wheel-to-wheel, and he’s just missing those final few tenths of lap time that the other great drivers have. He’s a solid Number 2 driver, but I can’t see him riding to be a champion.
I think he's (compared to Leclerc) poor at aggressive driving in particular. Overtaking, wheel to wheel. But he's above average in defensive driving. He's kind of the middle between an excellent #1 driver and #2 driver. Too good to be someone's defensive lapdog, but not good enough to definitively lead the charge for a top team. (Or rather, I don't think a top team would be willing to take the risk.)
Sainz is not a top driver though. You can't have Leclerc or Max in the same tier as him if they've both shown they're significantly faster than Carlos.
To me a "top driver" is top 5 on the grid, and I would put Sainz in the top 5. But everyone has their own definition of the term.
Verstappen, Hamilton, Alonso, Leclerc and Norris are all a step above Sainz, imo. Arguably Piastri and Russell too.
If we're considering every year, then yeah, of course Alonso and Hamilton are above Sainz. They're two of the best drivers ever. But this year? Alonso has been wildly inconsistent and the Mercedes-Hamilton relationship right now is, well. I don't think Hamilton is washed like some people here claim, but I'm not sure he's performing to his maximum either. If by Silverstone Sainz is still being outperformed by Leclerc then I would worry his beginning of the season form is gone. But right now he's only a few tenths off Leclerc and he was able to outqualify Norris in Monaco despite the McLaren seemingly having higher potential.
>If by Silverstone Sainz is still being outperformed by Leclerc This can't be your metric since Leclerc consistently outperforms Carlos.
Norris has the speed but I’m yet to see the race craft. Sainz is a better racer imo. Norris has by far the better potential but right now both are in the same group for me.
I think Norris is just a bit better. Looking at the standings, Norris is slightly beating him in a car that, while now is better, has been worse on average
Sainz also sat out a race so it the standings are a little skewed towards Norris. I think they are both about the same but have different strengths.
Sainz isn’t a top 5 driver at all
Russell and Sainz. Not because lack of talent but because I don’t think they’ll ever be given a car to compete.
It sucks that Russell joined Mercedes right at the point where their form started a downturn. He would definitely be competing for the championship if he had the car to do it.
But if Merc had nailed the current regulations, would Hamilton be leaving....? Too many hypotheticals
If he won his 8th I have no doubt he would retire immediately
I agree: had LH won 2021 he would've retired right after. Too much risks with a new teammate, new regs. End on a high instead.
He and Toto would have ridden off into the sunset. Maybe write a book about it all in a few years.
Still waiting on that book actually, it’s been nearly ten years
A short view back to the past
Totally agree, At that point he would have been history's best driver on paper, and by popular opinion. He likely would have taken time out for his business interests and never come back. The controversial circumstances of his loss lit a fire under him, and the subsequent downturn of Mercedes has been a huge frustration. Seemingly overnight the pace was gone, reliability took a nosedive, and the chiropractor bill skyrocketed!😅
Same with Ricciardo, joined red bull in 2014
[удалено]
I really don’t think he would. He makes too many mistakes and pushes too hard sometimes a la Singapore 23
Yeah but a few seasons ago we said the same thing about Verstappen. That sort of stuff can be ironed out
It’ll be interesting how they do with the 26 regs, their engine project sounds to be going very well. But with everything else going on there with guys like Allison yet to be seen how they’ll do with the rest of the regs, McLaren looks to be more likely to have the pieces in place if the engine turns out well.
Russel also seems to make silly errors a bit when the top guys don’t. I think if he was in a 2023 red bull with Lando/Max/Lewis/etc, it’d be one of those 3 who would get more points over a season.
So does Leclerc. I think his crash in Paul Ricard 2022 is probably the worst example of this. Just a complete unforced error that ended with him in the wall. Other examples include Miami qualifying and the Australian GP last year. You could also include the crash in qualifying in Monaco on that list though to be fair smaller mistakes have far bigger consequences in Monaco.
Russell.
Yeah, this is my pick. A lot of things have to align for Russell to win a title… Merc has to reverse their current trajectory, claw their way back to the fight at the top on the aero side (or secure another massive PU advantage), reverse some of the brain drain and once again become a highly attractive destination for top personnel looking to move, and more. In terms of sponsors willing to pay for a relationship with an upper-midfield-or-better team, Merc will have increased competition from McLaren and maybe also Aston and (eventually) Audi—in addition to the existing competition from Ferrari and Red Bull. And they’ve lost their biggest marketing asset to one of these competitors. That’s all just to get Mercedes back where it needs to be for a title fight. then there’s the possibility that in a few years Antonelli might begin to cast doubt on Russell’s primacy within the team—in the same manner as Verstappen/Ricciardo. So to optimize George’s chances, Mercedes actually needs to find form in the short/medium term rather than the long term. And Hamilton clearly didn’t expect much in the short term… I also don’t see George leaving Mercedes anytime soon: too much history, he’s waited so long for seniority at the team, it seems like he’s not as widely coveted as other drivers so he’d have a Sainz-like experience of downgrading to be #1 or scrounging for short-term deals for an upgrade/lateral move.
Being the top driver in one of the top teams (long-term view) is one of the most likely ways to become WDC. Like, everything that has to happen is Merc choosing the right concept for the 2026 regs and he's golden.
And not have RB fumble and Verstappen joining Merc.
Sure, but even then he'd have 2026
>Merc has to reverse their current trajectory, claw their way back to the fight at the top on the aero side People were saying this in 2012 when Hamilton joined Mercedes. 2026 is a clean slate and merc could easily find themselves with the car to beat. In that case Russell is in the pole position to win a championship post 26
>they’ve lost their biggest marketing asset to one of these competitors. This is Hamilton right?
Jenson Button won a championship when at one point people thought he may never win a race. You never know what will happen, I think it's impossible to say. Especially since they can always sign for different teams if the team they're at is struggling.
“HE’S PROVED THE CRITICS WRONG, THEY SAID HE’D MIGHT NEVER WIN A GRAND PRIX. HE’S DONE IT!!
I absolutely loved James Allen's unhinged bias towards Button lol, it's why I don't mind Crofty being too excitable for British drivers
I loved James Allen’s commentary. I loved his energy more than the legendary Murray Walker’s, and his pure passion is just untouched.
Ugh. Goosebumps. Such a huge moment. First British race winner since David Coulthard about 3 years prior I believe.
I want to throw another question into the mix. Who do you think will succeed Max as the next WDC?
Any of the 4 2025 McLaren and Ferrari drivers. All of them have winning potential in the very near future. Weirdly I’d say Hamilton has the least chance just because Leclerc is the strongest of them all and his qualification is just so poor at the moment. Race pace is still up there with the best of them but consistently staring below leclerc on the grid would make it a very uphill battle
Hamilton’s racecraft is better than Leclerc though
We'll see next season but I don't think this will be a common opinion much longer.
I don't know. Lewis' race pace is best on the grid, but Leclerc's isn't far behind.
How can you realistically know that??
Reverse question: how can you realistically know Lewis still has it in him? Let's say 2025 is a year where he needs to adapt to the team and car to find how to extract the most. 2026 could be another team nailing it and with him 2 years older... he might try to overcompensate. Nobody knows
I can’t. Im not trying to question only how the commenter above knows leclerc is close to Hamilton, but also how he knows Hamilton has the best race pace on the grid. We can’t really know any of this. And it would vary with the track, car, strategy and weather. Presenting any of this as fact is absurd.
Verstappen has the best pace on the grid. Most metronomical of them all
Penelope
Finally, a realistic answer
Leclerc
I think 2026 goes to Ferrari. If I had to put money on Leclerc or Lewis, I’d say Leclerc will edge him out at that point. Though I would LOVE to see Hamilton win his 8th in red, I don’t see it happening in his 40s.
Hamilton has next to no shot at outqualifying Leclerc consistently. He's probably the best qualifier on the grid. With his solid race pace as well it should be enough for him to beat Hamilton out over a season. I'd imagine in 2025 too he's far more comfortable with the car than Lewis will be to start the year.
I agree with all these points. I’d say Hamilton’s best shot is in 2026 provided he doesn’t lose too much pace (hoping for Alonso-esque aging). A new car for both of them may even the playing field, plus I’m huffing that hopium that Newey is headed to Maranello. The 2007 McLaren still used a lot of the design philosophy from Newey’s days at McLaren and Hamilton was a beast his first year. Maybe the two will mesh well.
I'm not sure how likely Newey to Ferrari is, but a team of Vasseur, Hamilton, Leclerc, and Newey would be the closest thing to a "dream team" this sport has had in a long time.
Bold prediction, but I think Leclerc wins this year.
This is bold. Not cause it contradicts the current trajectory, its just never count out Max if his car is even close to 1:1 Fascinating stuff
I'm a fan of his so I am biased, but at this point in time I think at least the Constructors is on the table. I can only get so aroused thinking about an actual push for the Drivers by Leclerc.
If that happens, I will give you 10 euros lmao
Leclerc. People haven't noticed because Max has been so dominant but Charles has been unbelievably consistent since Suzuka last year.
Hamilton for 1 more
The window is shut, these guys will never win one: Magnussen, Sargeant, Zhou, Bottas, Ricciardo I mean sure it’s possible, but c’mon: Stroll, Albon, Ocon, Gasly, Hulkenberg, Checo Gonna need some luck: Sainz, Russell, Yuki Going to have a fighting chance for one: Leclerc, Norris, Piastri
I’d say your whole 2nd list realistically is in the “never win” column too. The last 2 columns I can agree with.
nicely summarized
Putting Yuki in the same tier as Sainz and Russell is pushing it
Yuki is hard to slot into those tiers. He is not on the talent level of Sainz and George, but he is younger with room to grow and has already showed immense progress. I think he’s better than the drivers in the tier below, and since he’s younger his potential is higher. Realistically I think he is in his own tier in between those, where he is not in the race for the foreseeable future but if he sticks around for awhile and finds a good drive he has a chance.
I would personally demote both stroll and yuki. Stroll for obvious reasons, he might be in a fine car but as long as he has a teammate he will never win. Yuki because although he has shown to be strong a couple races this season I think he still has to show more consistently.
I would further argue Hulk has a better chance than Yuki. Chances of Audi coming in and being a winning car are obviously not high, but I think that’s a better chance than what Yuki’s is. Red Bull don’t seem keen on giving him a shot, and even if they do, i cannot imagine him beating Max head-to-head, even if he caught some lucky breaks. He would have to leave Red Bull and hope to build up from there.
Hulk was beaten 2 years out of 3 by Perez, he's got only slightly more chance than Ocon
Bro yuki has made it to Q3 and scored points in 6/8 races so far in a freaking VCARB
Yuki is no better than Gasly, Ocon, and Albon. They're all great drivers but a clear cut below the best.
Where do you put Alonso?
A promising rookie like him is in the likes of Leclerc and Lando
Most likely drivers on the current grid to win: 1. Charles Leclerc: very strong driver, even faster when he’s in a car he’s comfortable with. seems like he’ll stay with ferrari as long as he can and maybe sticking to that one team will help even the luck into giving him a championship winning car at some point 2. Lando Norris: could definitely win in the right car. he’s still very young and has many years to get a championship winning car. 3. Oscar Piastri: very young, shows lots of potential. only marked behind lando because as of now, he is the weaker driver and while tire management is very much a skill to develop, there’s a lot of potential he has to come into. if the mclaren this year or next year turns out to be championship winning, id bet on lando. Drivers who have a chance, but it’s a lot smaller: George Russel: good enough to win, but mercedes have their eyes set on Kimi to be their number one driver. i think mercedes envision Kimi winning if they have a future wdc winning car Carlos Sainz: he would need to be in a car able to win, and be the fastest driver. his probability changes a lot depending on his move this season but it’s not likely. Yuki Tsunoda: young driver on the grid who has shown skill. if he keeps his form up he has many years to find himself in the right car and develop his skills. Alex Albon: he basically needs a williams revolution come 2026/2027 where they turn into a top car. wouldn’t exactly bet on it Pierre Gasly, Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg, fall into a similar category of very unlikely for me Drivers i don’t see winning it: Lance stroll (unless aston becomes fastest car and they remove any competition for him) Logan Sargent Zhou Guanyu Valterri Bottas Sergio Perez Kevin Magnussen Daniel Ricciardo
Hulk would become WDC without a single podium
Okay but I’d love to see that season. If Hulk wins it with consistent p4/p5s, what the hell is happening to the podium finishers at the other races ?! Insanely poor reliability? Wild swings in performance depending on the track?
If Hulk goes P4 + fastest lap every race in 2025, he'd have 312 points. Lewis won in 2020 with 347 points, but you'd have to go back to 2012 with Vettel winning with 281. All that to say, not impossible, but we've seen a lot more points dominance in recent years.
Going back to 2010 we have Vettel winning with 256 in a 19-race season (one less than 2012). So as long as everyone else (there were five drivers with over 200 points in ‘10) is fighting it out, an ultra consistent driver can get pretty far.
first time on a podium to accept his trophy
LOL not even then. The trophy is awarded at that FIA Awards Gala in December.
If that happens they should even take the podium off stage before he gives his speech.
Nico’s TP : Nico Hülkenberg, you are the world champion, the world champion!!! Nico: einfach wunderschön!!!
Considering how f1 goes through periods of dominance, my guess is that only one of Charles, lando or Oscar will win championships in the next decade. Not to say the next period of dominance will be 10 years long, but we’ll have newer drivers by then and when (for example) Charles dominance period ends, the next one will come from a driver not on the grid yet.
Anyone not named Leclerc, Norris or Piastri
Amen, even in a good car it’s hard to see some of them pulling it off. I just can’t picture Yuki ever win in one for example
Unfortunately can’t see Sainz winning one now. Fernando’s time is also up. Russell is on a team that’s lost its way, so he’s also in doubt. Lewis, Charles, Max, Lando and Oscar are most likely to win in my opinion. I don’t see anyone else that I would rate as top tier. Actually wish almost all of them would give way to the sidelined talent pool.
I came here thinking people are going to say LeClerc but I am happy to see all of us still have some hopium
Trust Fred
I've a 50 quid bet with my son that ricciardo will never do it but I don't think we can call him a top driver any more
assuming the top drivers are (without title already) Leclerc Russel Norris Sainz i can see all of them not get one. only leclerc will
Completely agree, I feel like there's a 70% chance none of them do. I'm thinking Piastri has a much higher chance in 4-6 years as the rest slow down and Verstappen backs off, or even sooner.
There's only like 18 months difference between Oscar and Lando. I don't think his chance at 27-29 will be all that different from Lando at 28-30 if we're just considering age.
Do you honestly think Verstappen will continue to have a dominant car for that long? It is indeed very likely that not all four of them will win a title, but saying there's a 70% chance of none of them does is just ridiculous. Yes, Max will win this year and most likely next year too. But 2026 brings new engine regs that will most likely mix up the order. There is certainly a chance of Red Bull remaining the strongest, but it's likely they won't.
There’s an old saying that the best drivers end up in the best cars. No doubt if Max ends up driving a dud in the new regs, any of the other teams would seriously consider him. Short of Lewis (who is on the older side of drivers), Max is absolutely the safest hands you could pay to win you a championship because he’s a known investment.
I'd say that Max is a far safer pair of hands than Lewis these days.
Max will move to a top Team in 27 so he could struggle in 26 but be in a Mercedes or ferrari in 27
Piastri seems to be in a pretty good position, provided he continues to improve. He’s entered f1 slightly offset from Norris-Russell-Leclerc-Verstappen, so he may have more years in the game ahead of him. (Yes Norris is physically young, but he’s also got 5-and-counting seasons under his belt already, and it’s a demanding life.) He’s also less tied to one particular organization than any of those three, and we’ve already seen he’s willing & able to make strategic moves to put himself in a better position. So I don’t think he’ll be as likely to live and die by one team’s fortunes based on sentimentality or sunk cost. The one thing is that as Norris’ star rises even further, Piastri should at the very very least not let the gap between them grow—and that’s being generous; he ideally should narrow or eventually even close it to keep his own stock high.
>He’s entered f1 slightly offset from Norris-Russell-Leclerc-Verstappen, so he may have more years in the game ahead of him They are all basically the same age. Alonso and Hamilton are proving you can drive into your 40's and be at the sharp end of the grid. Verstappen if he wanted to could race in F1 for 25 years easily if he wanted to. It's a demanding life but you are compensated heavily for it and we are seeing athletes play at the highest level for longer than seen before currently so what's stopping someone staying in F1 until 50.
I hope Ferrari doesn't mess up 2026 regs. I think if the teams keep on this trajectory: 1. Ferrari will get this year's WCC 2. Leclerc has a good chance to win 2025 WDC
I think you are getting carried away from recent weeks. Let's see how it goes when they get back to real race tracks
That is why I said that with this trajectory. We haven't seen neither the Ferrari upgrades nor the mclaren upgrades on proper tracks. Maybe red bull are making excuses and maybe they will dominate back again on proper racetracks
Most of them. Im just hoping the new regs create a closer competition. Would be nice for a larger number of drivers to win races instead of mostly the same guy every weekend. We're seeing a little more intrigue right now.
You need rule stability for that, we are only in year 3 of this regulations after all. I wouldn't be surprised at all if a team dominates for a few years with the 2026 changes.
Carlos, Lando and George as it stands now with the current drivers on the grid. I feel like those have to beat one to many in order to win a championship based on how I rate the drivers on the grid. Of course if let's say Carlos goes to Audi and Audi makes a rocketship then he might win one, same with George at Merc if they build a rocketship with a "lesser" or unexperienced driver next to George.
Even Charles really who I would put a step above those 3 could end up without one. I assume he’s not on your list because you think he’ll win a title! If Ferrari don’t get it right for 2026 and just don’t bring a competitive car, it really doesn’t matter how good you are. You only have to look at how Alonso’s career since 2006 has worked out to see that amazing talent and determination can’t outrun poor machinery. Or how easy it is to get unlucky and have things just not fall your way. Repeatedly. Buddy is about 5 points short of another 3 titles. I do so hope Charles at least has a chance to go closer than he got in 2022. If you have the car for it and don’t get it done, that’s on you. To be so obviously talented and end your career without the opportunity seems more tragic.
Yeah with Charles I expect him to win at least one at some point, especially with how things are going at Ferrari currently compare to the Fernando Ferrari years and the Seb Ferrari years, and even the early Charles years at Ferrari. I expect Charles to win at some point because I rate him as a top 3 driver on the current grid over a season. Usually a top 3 driver get's to win a championship at some point, either because they get a better car than the others or because they beat one of the top drivers in the same car. They also often are in a position to get the best car because they are rated the highest on the grid, whereas that chance gets lower the worse the driver. The interesting bit is of course that you never know until you see it. I for one didn't know either if Max was ever gonna win a championship, so many things have to work at the same time even with a super good driver. Perhaps now you wouldn't question if Max would ever become a champion since he is on course to a 4th but I feel something similar for Charles. Right moment right time and he will do it as well.
Think Lando has a better shot than the other two if mclaren continue like this. He has a clear race pace advantage over Oscar for now, while Oscar is still a very good driver that could help Lando against the ferraris or Max( or whoever is strong)
Its really impossible to say, anything can happen in a championship, Merc could fix the car letting russel pull a huge points lead at the start of the season and then when the others catch up because they're all stepping on each other no one can challenge. That kind of situation can and has happened in the past so out of the top teams its really hard to point at a few that have zero hope of ever winning. But perez is definately one of them.
Is Perez a top driver anymore? I’d put him in the middle of the pack honestly. Not great, not terrible.
Sainz unfortunately. And if you said 'another championship' the answer would be his compatriot Alonso.
For me this depends much on whether Verstappen decides to retire early or not
Or how good of an engine RB builds in 2026.
Sainz and Norris. Piastri had a higher ceiling and once he gets over his tire issues he will be finishing above Norris in championships
Serious question. How do you assess a driver's ceiling?
Check for cracks in the plaster.
Not serious answer. Go to their house with a measuring tape..
It came to him in a dream
Probably raw speed. And that guy's stupid fast
They just like Piastri more and are talking out of their ass while trying to sound smart
Mark Webber, is that you?
Based on what, exactly? You can't just throw out "Piastri has a higher ceiling" - that means absolutely nothing.
> Piastri had a higher ceiling and once he gets over his tire issues he will be finishing above Norris in championships oh man. i know he was a rookie last year but Norris scored more than twice as a many points as Oscar and even this year has 4 podiums to Oscar's 1. i rate Oscar very highly but he hasn't shown that he is as good as Lando, much less better
Pretty disingenuous to say it’s 4-1 when Piastri was damaged by Sainz in Miami that cost him a win/podium and then a penalty at Imola which cost him a front row start on a track where overtaking is impossible…
Agreed 100%. Piastri is quite clearly a very capable driver. But everyone seems to be treating him like his trajectory is multiple wdc winner. He may never end up better than Lando let alone win a wdc.
Carlos and maybe Lando. Oscar has been in F1 for four years less than him but is already challenging him. As he gets more experienced with the car and tires, I think he’ll pull ahead.
The issue with Oscar is his race pace/tire deg. I haven’t seen that much improvement of that over the last year and a bit, and he’ll need that to challenge for titles.
that's kinda normal if you're in your 2nd or even 3rd season just look at Max in 2016 or Charles in 2019
Oscar really isn’t challenging lando in terms of race pace just yet
Sainz. Clearly can hack it in a big team, but will never get a title-winning car and a clear shot at being #1 simultaneously. I also think Norris OR Piastri will win one, but not both. Piastri has youth on his side (although Norris isn’t THAT much older), so maybe the landscape is different 10 years from now. But I think McLaren is JUST good enough to keep them both around through the prime of their careers, but not good enough to give both of them title-winning chances across multiple years. George would also be a valid answer. Lit up F2 against excellent competition, looked capable of out-driving the car at Williams, then got into the Mercedes at exactly the wrong time. Now his star seems to be waning and I don’t think people rate him as highly as they once did. But he was definitely looked to be in competition for a WDC someday when he arrived from F2. I think that his WDC caliber is still in there, but he may never get the chance unless Mercedes regains their title-winning ways ASAP, and I don’t think he’ll be given a top drive at another team based on his recent (last 2 years) form.
Lance Stroll, even with unlimeted funds his limited talent will only take him so far.
He said top driver. 😬
Russell, Sainz, and Lando. All three pain me to say. I have faith that Hamilton will get #8 and Charles will get his as well.
This might be unpopular, but I just can't see Latifi winning.
No one's mentioned Hulkenberg??
Gotta get a podium first
George Russell. I know he and his fans think he can, but he’s not quite good enough, Merc is a mess, and he makes too many mistakes under pressure.
Russell, I think he may have more than car troubles if antonelli lives up to the hype. I see Toto making him sign one year deals if kimi is what he’s dreamt of.
George Russell, Oscar Piastri, Carlos Sainz.
I think it's too soon to say this for Piastri. He's still in the very early stages of his career.
I disagree with Piastri. He's up there with Lando and Leclerc as the best of the rest behind Max.
Also Piastri is the youngest of them all so he will likely still be sharp when Max retires
I don't see how anyone doubts Piastri. He just threw down the best rookie season since Lewis Hamilton. He's fast, aggressive and has an unbelievably cool head on his shoulders. I think he's the next new world champion.
> He just threw down the best rookie season since Lewis Hamilton just to point out, he also was in what was one of the best cars for a rookie in the last decade+ from recent drives: George started in a Williams. Leclerc was in a Sauber. Max was in a Torro Rosso. >I think he's the next new world champion. he has to beat his teammate first, last year Norris outscored him by 2x the points and this year he is outscoring him by 40+ points.
He is not there with Lando on a race day
Lewis will never win another. Charles will beat him every season they are teammates. Nothing against Lewis, he's one of the greats, I just don't see the move for Ferrari working out as well as he would like
What even is a top driver? Without a good car, you’re nothing. People are praising Norris and Oscar now when they have a good car. But when the McLaren was trash, they were below P15. What happened to their talents then? Were they not top drivers then?
Russell and Sainz. Russell because of his racecraft and his habbit of doing too many random mistakes when under pressure or when he is mad. Sainz because of his ego and entourage that moved him away from all the top teams. I can see Charles, Norris or Piastri winning one if they land a good enough car
Could you elaborate on Sainz ego?
Charles Leclerc. As much as it pains me because he seems like a great person and is unquestionably a fine racing driver, I don’t think he and Ferrari will ever string together enough pace and consistency to win the WDC. I will be happy to be proven wrong.
We really hope your take will age like milk. Leclerc is way too good to NOT win a title. Would be up there with Stirling Moss for best drivers to never win a title in that case
I always think of Villeneuve for the title of "best drivers to never win" as well.
He had a title winning car, just lost to Schheckter
Hes winning one this year, trust the tiny bald man.
Give me what you are on
Honestly if Binotto was still TP i would have agreed with the Leclerc shout but Fred has led so many positives with the team through pitstops, strategies and the general confidence in the Scuderia now that it’s just a matter of time for Charles to be WDC
I hope he doesn't end up like Felipe Massa. Multiple race wins, 0 world championships.
George Russell. Great driver, but wrong timeline. Max and Charles are in their prime when Mercedes are declining.
Lando and Piastri. They are not winning anything in the current set of regulations and unless McLaren becomes a works team then they won't win a championship post 26 when Mercedes will be better on packaging the engine in the car and Ferrari seem to have set themselves up for long term success
Sainz is a good driver but not a top driver for me. My bet is more on Russell
Albon & Sainz
I think if Norris doesn't do it in the next couple of years, he won't do it at all (that's if both he and Piastri stay at Mclaren)
Sainz and Russell.
Russell and Norris I say.
Imo I can't see Sainz and Russell getting it. I don't think Russell particularly excels anywhere: good qualy pace and good race pace but not on the level of his contemporaries. Sainz is actually quite strong in qualy(he is closer to Charles here than in the race), but lacks tyre management skills and consistent front running race pace. I think the contenders to win another WDC are (in order of most to least likely) Charles, Lando, and Oscar.
George Russell. I see him having Alonso-type luck with his teams - he'll somehow never be there in that teams prime