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In 2021, Lando Norris has had the best year of his F1 career so far, with four podiums this season and his maiden pole position in Sochi. Anticipated to be fighting for the championship title in the years to come, Norris is set to become the best British driver on the grid in 2022.
The F1 grid next year will have three Britons competing across 2 teams. George Russell will be joining fellow Briton and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes. Meanwhile, Lando Norris has signed a multi-year contract with McLaren and will be racing with the Woking-based team next year. Alex Albon, who is of Thai-British descent, will be returning in 2022 to take Russell's former seat at Williams. He, however, will race under the Thai flag.
There are several variables that play a significant role in the overall outcome of an F1 season. This analysis will consider the fact that there is a drastic difference in the performance levels of Mercedes and McLaren. Further, it will focus on driver and team performances to determine why Lando Norris is set to perform better than George Russell and Lewis Hamilton in 2022.
3 reasons why Lando Norris will be the best British driver in F1 2022 season
#1 McLaren team dynamics are clear for the future
Daniel Ricciardo joined Lando Norris at McLaren in 2021 and had an underwhelming year to say the least. Despite his years of experience and level of driving, he was seen falling behind his British team-mate. Although there were several moments of bad luck, Norris ended the year 45 points ahead of his team-mate in the drivers' standings. The Briton had three more podiums than the Aussie, while qualifying and finishing ahead of him in more than twice as many races.
Given that Lando Norris is a decade younger than Ricciardo, he is likely to be a key focus point for the team. McLaren will be working on grooming the Briton to win a world championship.
This, however, is not the case at Mercedes. Valtteri Bottas had been the perfect wingman for Lewis Hamilton for the past five years and the team had clear hierarchy and set priorities. Meanwhile, George Russell is expected to be a championship-winning material. His entry into the team is set to change the dynamics, probably causing hindrance in their performance. History could repeat itself at Mercedes from the time when Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton had it out for each other in their time as team-mates.
#2 Lando Norris has nothing to lose in 2022
Mercedes has dominated the turbo hybrid era with consecutive constructors' championships in the last eight years. Naturally, George Russell is expected to fill Bottas' shoes and deliver race wins. Concurrently, Lewis Hamilton will return with a point to prove and a title to win back from Max Verstappen.
Meanwhile, McLaren has not won a world championship since 1998. The team will be eager to win a championship, now more than ever. For this, they expect Lando Norris to lead the charge.
At the 2019 Australian Grand Prix, Norris became the youngest-ever Briton to compete in F1. He then went on to break the record for most consecutive points finishes in a McLaren in the 2021 season, showing immense potential as a maturing driver.
A maiden victory slipped through the 22-year-old's hands at the Russian Grand Prix, where he held off Hamilton for several laps in a significantly weaker car. Unfortunately, he lost the position by making a wrong call concerning the tires in the changing weather conditions.
Lando Norris is hence likely to have more to prove to himself than anyone else and will be fighting to deliver an even better season than the last. Given the technical regulations for the 2022 season, the disparity between the cars in terms of performance level is likely to be reduced, allowing for real racing to take place.
#3 Consistency, consistency, consistency!
Lando Norris has spent his entire three-year F1 career at McLaren and is set to stay with the team until the end of 2024. The Briton has been quickly maturing as a driver, learning from costly mistakes along the way, such as the heartbreak in Sochi this year. He finished ten out of the first fifteen races of 2021 in the top 5, demonstrating excellent consistency.
Russell, like any driver in a new car, is expected to take some time to settle into the new team alongside one of the most iconic F1 drivers in history. Having stepped into Hamilton's seat at the Sakhir Grand Prix in 2020, Russell drove a brilliant race that unfortunately came to a heartbreaking end. There is, however, a big difference in being part of the team as an official driver. While Russell may go on to be among the best in the years to come, the 2022 season is likely to favor Lando Norris over the Mercedes driver.
No one on the current grid compares to Lewis Hamilton and his level of consistency and experience. As he approaches the 16th F1 season of his career, however, it is inevitable that age will start catching up with the seven-time world champion. Sooner than later, he will have to make way for the next generation of F1 drivers such as Lando Norris, George Russell and Charles Leclerc.
