George Russell and Lando Norris had a close battle in Formula 2 in the 2018 season where they went head-to-head to win the title.
George Russell and Lando Norris have been rivals back from their Formula 2 days in 2018. They went head-to-head several times to win the title. Eventually, it was Russell who won the F2 championship in 2018 but both the drivers got the step up to F1.
For the past three seasons, Russell has been driving at the back of the grid in his Williams while Norris has had battles with those in the front. Now that Russell has taken a seat in Mercedes he hopes to race with Lando Norris.
Russell thinks that several drivers and teams would be aiming for the championship in the 2022 season in light of the new regulations. He said, “It’s exciting. I think we are all excited for the new challenges of next year and what’s faced.”
“Obviously, Lando has been a bit higher up the grid than me over the last three years, so hopefully we can be up there fighting together because I’m sure also Lando wants to be fighting for victories and championships as well.”
“I think there are probably four teams, eight drivers, who will back themselves to win. Probably more – five teams, 10 drivers, who truly think they can have a good shot at winning. So I think that is exciting, the unknown of what is to come,” he further added.
Also Read: George Russell thinks Mercedes will give him a hard time in 2022
Lando Norris thinks if he races Russell he’d have a good start
Lando Norris hopes that McLaren continues and takes a step forward in battling with the front runners of the race. The team secured two podiums in the Austrian and the Italian Grand Prix. Lando Norris slightly missed his first F1 victory in the Russian GP.
McLaren finished the 2021 season in the fourth position ahead of Alpine while it had secured a P3 in the constructors’ championship in 2020.
Furthermore, Norris believes that if the Woking-based team is able to battle with Mercedes, they would know that they had a good off-season.
The 22-year-old said, “First of all, I hope we get to go wheel-to-wheel. If we go wheel-to-wheel [with Russell] then I think we’ve had a good start to 2022. Or he’s had a bad one!”
“I think, of course, we’re going to be optimistic and hope we can start the season well, and [hope] we can be closer to Ferrari, and Mercedes, and Red Bull, I guess especially those final two. So we’ll wait and see. Time’s going to tell,” he further added.
Moreover, he said, “I don’t think anyone really knows where anyone’s going to be at the beginning of next season. But we’ve definitely got some ground to make up and it’s not going to be easy, although it’s new rules and everything, to make up all of it for next year.”
“If I’m racing George, then we’re racing Mercedes, and if we’re racing Mercedes then I think we’ve had a good off-season.”
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