[Ngilbe36]

Hey All,
I thought this might be a fun thread.

So with respect to many of you F1 fans out there, I am new to the sport. In my eyes, we have one of the most exciting groups of young guys in the sport right now. The level of drivers is at a great place and we have some all-stars in the mix that all look like Championship caliber in the right car.

Here is the main grouping I am thinking of
- VER
- LEC
- NOR
- SAI
- GAS
- RUS

No matter where these 6 guys end up in the next few years. I am very excited to see them race and grow over the next 10 years! F1s future looks bright.

What are other groupings of drivers that all are within 3-4 years of each other that had such potential?

[fiveohwblow]

Excellent thread! I am absent the multiple decades of being a fan myself. Curious to see the thoughts on this and better yet, explanations. The advantage here is the hindsight of those who had a similar grouping from past lineups should likely be accompanied with the results.

[yco]

they re definitely the next gen of great racers..

i d put Gasly at the bottom among them, Carlos is a great easy to adapt driver.. people overlook how easy he adapted different cars so fast..

on track battles among Leclerc, Russell and Norris were and i believe always be hard but fair.. they re young top-notch drivers.. probably we can see them going side by side in multiple corners as long as they have similar machinery..

Max is really good on attacking, he is acting bold which is great.. opposite of Bottas.. but from defense side he is iike Schumacher.. super hard but mostly dangerous defensing is quite expectable..

Leclerc i believe has the best racing mindset on the grid.. its not hard for him to accept his mistakes and move on.. accepting mistakes is a rare thing in F1 (actually in daily life as well).. and cant remember much of races that he couldnt squeeze 110% of the car.. the battle he had with Perez was really weird in A1.. Perez normally wasnt a driver to defense that hard and Leclerc is not a driver to fail on overtakes.. Perez's defense on the left hand turn was absurd.. Russell and Alonso's battle was a superb example how racing should be.. actually Alonso V2 we see these days.. Alonso V1 was being too aggressive some time to time.. yeah it was for 10th place.. but it was one of the battles in recent years..



Norris started to have a leading role in McLaren.. he is so young and its obvious that he is extremely talented and he can lead a team as well.. and he races quite hard but fair as well.. he is so confident on overtakes, braking points or oversteer moments.. and he can make fun of himself as well.. a superb combination!

[Darth One]

What, no one likes Mazepin?

I think Max is for sure at the top of that group. Second tier being LeClerc and Norris. The others all have potential, but not as much of a track record as the first ones i mentioned. George Russell in particular seems to have some unbelievable hype around him, but I’m not savvy enough to see how brilliant a driver is, if he’s in an uncompetitive car.

I also hear some chatter about Tsunoda’s potential, let’s see if he forces his way onto this list at some point.

[racerbruce]

Originally Posted by Darth One

What, no one likes Mazepin?

I think Max is for sure at the top of that group. Second tier being LeClerc and Norris. The others all have potential, but not as much of a track record as the first ones i mentioned. George Russell in particular seems to have some unbelievable hype around him, but I’m not savvy enough to see how brilliant a driver is, if he’s in an uncompetitive car.

I also hear some chatter about Tsunoda’s potential, let’s see if he forces his way onto this list at some point.

Yeah....Amazingspin is AWFUL and Tsunoda needs at least two more years in lower formulas....and he needs a major attitude adjustment.

[Killed by Death]

Originally Posted by Darth One

George Russell in particular seems to have some unbelievable hype around him, but I’m not savvy enough to see how brilliant a driver is, if he’s in an uncompetitive car.

Thinking Russell deserves more credit. Can't wait to see him take Slottas's spot at MB but hammy probably won't stand for it. We all know hammy gets what hammy wants. RUS will most likely be stuck at Williams for one more year.

Mazespin = No Talent Pay Driver. He better hope daddy has enough money to buy off his MANDATORY russki military service.

[243Racing]

Nice to have a couple up and coming British drivers that kids can actually look up to

[Ngilbe36]

Originally Posted by Killed by Death

Thinking Russell deserves more credit. Can't wait to see him take Slottas's spot at MB but hammy probably won't stand for it. We all know hammy gets what hammy wants. RUS will most likely be stuck at Williams for one more year.

Mazespin = No Talent Pay Driver. He better hope daddy has enough money to buy off his MANDATORY russki military service.

Both Latifi and Mazespin are both severely lacking in the talent department and are clearly pay to race. Having said that for Stroll also being a pay to play driver, he actually has some talent. Not enough to be included in my original list of 6 though.

I really want to see Russell and Lewis side by side for at least two years. It will be good to see what he can do against Lewis and I am sure he would learn a lot from him as well.

[Ngilbe36]

Originally Posted by yco

they re definitely the next gen of great racers..

i d put Gasly at the bottom among them, Carlos is a great easy to adapt driver.. people overlook how easy he adapted different cars so fast..

on track battles among Leclerc, Russell and Norris were and i believe always be hard but fair.. they re young top-notch drivers.. probably we can see them going side by side in multiple corners as long as they have similar machinery..

Max is really good on attacking, he is acting bold which is great.. opposite of Bottas.. but from defense side he is iike Schumacher.. super hard but mostly dangerous defensing is quite expectable..

Leclerc i believe has the best racing mindset on the grid.. its not hard for him to accept his mistakes and move on.. accepting mistakes is a rare thing in F1 (actually in daily life as well).. and cant remember much of races that he couldnt squeeze 110% of the car.. the battle he had with Perez was really weird in A1.. Perez normally wasnt a driver to defense that hard and Leclerc is not a driver to fail on overtakes.. Perez's defense on the left hand turn was absurd.. Russell and Alonso's battle was a superb example how racing should be.. actually Alonso V2 we see these days.. Alonso V1 was being too aggressive some time to time.. yeah it was for 10th place.. but it was one of the battles in recent years..

Norris started to have a leading role in McLaren.. he is so young and its obvious that he is extremely talented and he can lead a team as well.. and he races quite hard but fair as well.. he is so confident on overtakes, braking points or oversteer moments.. and he can make fun of himself as well.. a superb combination!

Good idea with the driver breakdowns...

Here are my thoughts, no order

Leclerc
- Great racecraft
- Too aggressive sometimes
- GREAT single lap pace
Norris
- Very balanced all around racer
- Good racecraft
- Good defending
- Good single lap pace
Russell
- GREAT single lap pace "Mr. Saturday"
- Tough to tell real racecraft bc the car is meh, but the Alonso fight showed his stuff and was impressive
- Good defending
- First lap pace is lacking. Idk if this is because he qualifies way out of position, or if the car cant turn on its tires fast enough
Verstappen
- Great racecraft
- Before this year I would have said too aggressive, but he has come into his own this year.
- Single lap pace is outstanding
Sainz
- As yco mentioned, his ability to switch teams and be competitive in 2-3 races is mind-blowing
- Good all around driver
- Very consistent
Gasly
- Good all around driver
- DNFs and tough-luck seem to hit him worse than most
- Commonly qualifies higher up the grid than his car should be
- Decent racecraft but definitely makes some errors (the move against Lando in Austria...)

[EdM5]

Sainz is your typical always super quick and consistent teamplayer. Will win races in the right car and the crowds love him. Very, very good racer but not exceptional like Hamilton/Senna/Schumacher.
I've always liked this kind of driver. Like Gerhard Berger, Ricardo Patrese, Felipe Massa before him.

I expect Verstappen, Leclerc and Norris to dominate F1 for the next 10 years though.

[EdM5]

Originally Posted by Ngilbe36

What are other groupings of drivers that all are within 3-4 years of each other that had such potential?

That sure is the legendary generation of Prost, Piquet, Mansell, Senna and Berger!

[Darth One]

Speaking of pay-to-race drivers, i read that Lando is actually one of them. His dad owns (owned?) one of the largest brokerages in the UK and has contributed heavily to McLaren. What a deal for the team! He clearly deserves his seat on merit alone

[Ngilbe36]

Originally Posted by Darth One

Speaking of pay-to-race drivers, i read that Lando is actually one of them. His dad owns (owned?) one of the largest brokerages in the UK and has contributed heavily to McLaren. What a deal for the team! He clearly deserves his seat on merit alone

Yeah I think Papa Norris paid for Lando to be the reserve driver in 2018 and possibly to be a driver in 2019. Idk if there is still an agreement or not. Id doubt it. His pace speaks for himself at this point.

I dont have a problem with pay drivers as long as they are good. Most drivers are pay drivers tbh. Some are sponsored by companies, others by family.

[Autobacs]

I say Russell is definitely top tier. How can you not say so when his very FIRST race EVER in a Merc and he is beating Bottas and clearly should have won the race. You have everyone else given the benefit of the doubt when in a new car for more than a couple of races for them to adjust.

PLUS, when you have a 2 time World Champion, acknowledged by the knowledgeable as one of the greatest F1 Drivers, saying out loud that he is a future World Champ, that is all I need to know.

[M5Rick]

..and doesn't BOT know it. He wasn't letting Russell past under ANY circumstances at Imola seing the numbing writing on the wall.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by EdM5

That sure is the legendary generation of Prost, Piquet, Mansell, Senna and Berger!

I love this photo, there's a huge one at the Brands Hatch Racing clothing/accessory shop, it shows off the real camaraderie at the time.

[EdM5]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

I love this photo, there's a huge one at the Brands Hatch Racing clothing/accessory shop, it shows off the real camaraderie at the time.

This was indeed before the infamous Piquet-Mansell at Williams and Senna-Prost at McLaren meltdowns.

By the end of the decade everyone hated everyone.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by EdM5

This was indeed before the infamous Piquet-Mansell at Williams and Senna-Prost at McLaren meltdowns.

By the end of the decade everyone hated everyone.

That's life I suppose.