The F1 title race has been fuelled by drama and Lando Norris has relentlessly battled Max Verstappen as the chase at the top of the standings will not stop until the final race week where the world champion will be crowned. So who’s been the best driver this season?
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00:00So, Daniel, obviously the Formula One season has been quite an enthralling watch compared
00:06to the last few seasons. We discussed Red Bull's dominance before and how that may have
00:11been fading a little bit with their car changes, etc. But what have your thoughts been on the
00:16season as a whole so far?
00:19Well, certainly it's got better. I think at the start of the season, we all thought it
00:23was just going to go straight into the same sort of pattern as it has been for the last
00:28two or so years where Max Verstappen and Red Bull sort of ran away with it quite early
00:32on and it looked that way for the first couple of months and, you know, they were winning
00:37the races. And then there came a bit of a shift and he's not won for like a while now
00:42and you've had different winners. You've had Oscar Piastri winning of McLaren, you've had
00:46Lando Norris winning of also of McLaren, you've had Charles Leclerc winning of Ferrari and
00:52obviously Lewis Hamilton's won a couple of Grands Prix, Mercedes, George Russell as well.
00:56So it's really been sort of a mixed bag towards the second half of the season and it's ended
01:00up with a case where Lando Norris of McLaren is in a situation where he could overtake
01:08Max Verstappen now.
01:09And who's sort of impressed you the most going through the Formula One season? Obviously
01:14you mentioned we've got a title race on, which hasn't really happened for the last few campaigns
01:18this late on in the season. You know, we've had multiple race winners as well, which you
01:23also mentioned there. Who's impressed you the most? And, you know, maybe drivers who
01:27you think weren't going to get a win or, you know, have really shone through in such a
01:32tough season?
01:33Well, I think it's, we can't really look past Lando Norris for stars and that's probably
01:38the obvious answer. But the fact that he's in a title battle with Max Verstappen, which
01:41wouldn't have been expected at the start of the season, is a credit to him and his team
01:46for the drives he's shown and also the car they've produced for him in the second half
01:50of the season. In terms of other drivers, I think, looking at McLaren again, Oskar Piastri
01:55has really stood out as being, you know, I think only in his second season of F1, but
02:00he's really shown that he's got the speed, he's got the capability. I like to mention
02:05Lewis Hamilton because it's been a tough time for him after what happened at the end of
02:082021 and the Mercedes car not really being that pacey for a lot of times, especially
02:15in 2022 and large parts of 2023. For him to claim, well, one victory in Silverstone,
02:22which was fantastic at the time, but also then to claim a sort of a gifted win in Belgium,
02:28let's be honest, because Russell won that race, but still has just shown that he's still
02:33got that pace and that drive and that will to win in him. And that if he perhaps goes
02:37to Ferrari next year and they have a car that's good enough, he could be up there again. And
02:42obviously the rules change in 2026 and if they get that right, could he win his eighth?
02:47That remains to be seen. I think they're the three that I've certainly enjoyed watching
02:51the most. I mean, you could talk about others perhaps in the midfield battles, but for those
02:54near the front, I'd argue that Norris, Piastri and Hamilton have been very good in the second
02:58half of the season.