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Damon Hill has given his take on which drivers he believes will become title winners in the future, with the 1996 world champion particularly singling out Lando Norris as the one he sees as being the next to claim the accolade.
Speaking to the F1 Explains podcast during a special episode all about winning the sport’s ultimate prize, Hill cited several of Norris’s characteristics that he feels are indicative of a desire to push himself further.
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“I think he’s got the ingredients,” Hill commented. “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.”
In terms of which other drivers he thinks have the potential to secure a championship one day, Hill continued: “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.
“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.”
With fans invited to put their questions directly to Formula 1 experts on the podcast, Hill was asked by F1 Explains listener Lilly, from Amsterdam, whether he would prefer to be leading the standings – as is the case currently for Max Verstappen – or if he’d rather be the driver in second place like Norris.
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“I think that it’s better to have the advantage and protect it,” said Hill, who led the championship throughout his title-winning season in 1996.
“You’ve got nothing to lose if you’re chasing, but at the same time you’re behind. So it’s always a better position to be in, to have those points.
“In motorsport, there’s tension. You can’t avoid it. So it’s the ability to cope with tension, to cope with pressure, but I think I’d rather have the lead than be trying to get it.
“Max has got it all to lose. It was a similar thing in ‘96 for me because the gap closed up towards the end of the season, and that can be an anxious time.
“It’s much harder. At one point you think ‘we’re winning, we’re going to win’. And of course, that is the golden rule in all sports – to not get ahead of yourself.
“It’s actually keeping your mind in the present and always keeping on the same competitive urge until the flag drops or you get to the end of the season.”
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Hill was also quizzed on the approach that title rivals take during moments of direct combat, to which the Briton responded: “If you’ve got, for example, a situation where you could lose the championship if you don’t finish and you’ve got someone challenging you, then you have to bear that in mind – they might benefit if you don’t finish.
“There’s a tactical consideration, but you should never be thinking about the championship and trying to calculate the points when you’re racing because, ultimately, you know the score: you have to stay in front. If you score the most points, you’ll win the championship.
“There may be times when you can concede the lead, or concede the win of a race just to get the points you need to become world champion. You have to do a bit of pre-race calculation as to the possible scenarios. You don’t want to be in a race trying to work it out.”
To listen to the full episode, hit go on the audio player above – or click here to listen on your preferred podcasting platform.
And to get your questions answered on a future episode, email any query you’re curious about to [email protected].
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