McLaren's Lando Norris and Mercedes' George Russell will race in Formula 1 for the 100th time in Austin as they compete to be the British motorsport's next superstar after Lewis Hamilton; watch the United States Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1
Thursday 19 October 2023 06:28, UK
As Lando Norris and George Russell head to their 100th Grand Prix weekend, Sky Sports F1 look back at what has been a hugely entertaining start to the careers of the young Brits.
The pair came onto the grid as the next generation of British talent for when the great Lewis Hamilton retires, but now all three are competing at the front.
While they have been on their own journeys, following in the steps of and filling Hamilton's boots are a recurring theme in both of their careers.
Norris arrived at McLaren to help turn the 'GP2 engine' frowns into papaya-soaked serotonin hits, and his injection of youth, speed and star power was precisely what McLaren needed to lead their climb towards the front of the F1 pack, where they belong.
McLaren were in a dark place in the late 2010s as they publicly fell out with their engine supplier Honda, with world champions Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso losing patience and leaving the sport entirely.
While they were not struggling quite so much when it came to car competitiveness, a fresh-faced Lewis Hamilton walked into a political storm as McLaren imploded with Alonso and then team boss Ron Dennis grating and 'spy gate' scandals - like Norris, Hamilton was the young shining light that gave the team and the fans a reason to cheer and believe.
This experience for both Hamilton and Norris forced them to mature quickly - they have been the team leader despite the arrival of more experienced big names such as Alonso and Daniel Ricciardo, and they are better drivers for it.
The other similarity to Hamilton that Norris has is his natural, quirky but genuine persona, engaging a global audience - he is a superstar by being himself.
Hamilton was a superstar in the early stages of his career because of the barriers he broke and the people he spent time with, however, he didn't have the surroundings and confidence to be himself until he moved to Mercedes.
Norris, meanwhile, has entered F1 at a time where expressing your individuality is celebrated - thanks in a large part to Hamilton - which means that he can be his unreserved self, making him so appealing.
While the car helped, Hamilton's ability to express himself arguably allowed him to unlock a new level of performance.
The fact that Norris has done this earlier in his career than Hamilton may allow him to grow more quickly as an individual and as a racing driver in the next 100 races.
Russell is impatient, he says he wants things "yesterday", and that is because he knows he has the ability to mix it with the very best and he has had to be patient for most of his career.
Like Norris, he was quickly forced into a leadership position as the then Formula 2 champion joined struggling Williams alongside drivers that could not match his level - as much as he appreciated Williams, Russell quickly outgrew the team.
Russell maintains that he drove for Williams for "too long" - an assessment that Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has since admitted.
The reality is that Russell would normally have been in the car after one season, like Max Verstappen at Red Bull and Charles Leclerc at Ferrari - but Mercedes were going through a far from average period.
As the Silver Arrows and Lewis Hamilton dominated F1, one of the winning formulas was the partnership between Hamilton and the reliable, diplomatic and likeable Valtteri Bottas.
Hamilton has continued to maintain that Bottas was his favourite team-mate. So, as long as the championships came, the champion's calls to keep Bottas were heeded.
In 2021, though, Russell's talent was too glaring to ignore for Wolff, welcoming the King's Lynn man to Brackley for 2022.
Russell will have understandably expected to at least have been picking up wins as he supported Hamilton in the fight for the eighth title, but things didn't exactly go to plan.
Instead, Mercedes have had two years trying to find their way, taking away winning opportunities but allowing Russell to grow in experience and confidence - he is just as ready to fight for titles as Hamilton.
Arguably, Russell had his greatest season in 2022, outscoring Hamilton and winning whilst the seven-time world champion failed to do so for the first time in his career.
Only one team-mate can win the driver's title, and that's why Christian Horner says he wants to avoid having two alpha drivers - they take points away from one another.
If they can get into the position to fight for race wins, Mercedes need a clear driver to back, as shown in Qatar.
McLaren have a similar issue in the form of the superstar Norris and the raw but exciting Oscar Piastri.
Does Zak Brown back Norris, with whom he seems to have a very special relationship, or Piastri, for whom he fought so hard to sign?
Piastri and Russell will only get better as they look to assert themselves on their team-mates.
Norris obviously has youth on his side and will continue to blossom himself, but how he reacts to being challenged by his team-mate, something he hasn't had since Carlos Sainz in 2020, will be fascinating to see, especially as McLaren appear to be the team closest to the almighty Red Bull machine.
Russell will be disappointed with this season's results after such a positive 2022 in Mercedes.
However, on qualifying pace, he is matching Hamilton and heads into Austin 9-8 up - Russell also arguably came the closest to winning in Singapore.
The youngster is taking risks while he has nothing to lose, learning his limits for when a title is on the line - that is a dangerous challenge for Hamilton who is undoubtedly in the latter stages of his career.
There have been a few moments this season when the Mercedes pair clashed, but Qatar's first corner shenanigans were by far the most explosive.
Mercedes will hope to keep a lid on it and McLaren will hope their drivers don't get any ideas.
Both Norris and Russell have made impressive starts, but they have challenges to overcome if they want to become champion in their next hundred races - not least, on the other side of the garage.
Let's be clear - Russell's three years in a Williams which rarely scored points will impact the head-to-head data.
Nevertheless, the numbers do point to the respective strengths of the drivers.
Norris nor Russell have had as much success in F1 as they would have liked, with Russell the only one to have tasted victory after his win in Brazil and those painful final laps for Norris in Sochi.
But sometimes winning is not everything, and this is very much the case in an era of F1 that has been dominated by Hamilton and now three-time world champion Max Verstappen.
The data points to Norris' consistency being his greatest strength.
Norris has only failed to finish a race 10 times in 99 Grand Prix, scoring points an impressive 74 times.
For context, Russell has retired 16 times, Hamilton, one of the most consistent finishers in F1 history, retired 12 times in his first 99 races and Verstappen more than double with 21 times.
Of course, mechanical failures are not in the driver's control, but Norris is rarely caught up in a crash, keeps his nose clean and generally delivers the best result possible in the car - that is invaluable for a team.
He also has one more podium than Russell, with 11 - five P2s and six P3s compared to Russell's one win, two P2s and seven P3s.
Norris has yet to get his first win, but if he continues to maximise results, he will take the top step when the opportunity arises.
While Russell can be slightly less consistent, his ability to grab an opportunity shines through.
Whenever things are up in the air, who is the driver first to risk it on slicks on a drying track or call on his team to try an aggressive strategy?
Russell loves to go for it, and that has been the nature of his career in the uncompetitive Williams or Mercedes, desperate to overcome the might of Red Bull.
No wonder Russell snatched the opportunity to secure pole position and win in Brazil last year. Were it not for a puncture, he would have also clinched victory when parachuted into a Mercedes in Sakhir 2020.
This ability to snatch a chance with both hands is why Russell is beating Norris in the critical statistics of Grand Prix wins, pole positions.
Norris and Russell head into their hundredth race in Austin, having established themselves as two of the best on the F1 grid.
They are ready to take the baton from Hamilton as the top British driver, but they may have to wrestle it from the seven-time champion for longer than expected.
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