Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton or Lando Norris: Who Is EssentiallySports’ F1 Driver of the Season So Far?

After years of Lewis Hamilton’s dominance in F1, Max Verstappen, and Red Bull, together, have halted the Mercedes’ dream run. And their rivalry has been quite appealing, with both Verstappen and Hamilton pushing themselves to the absolute limits along with drivers like Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz, and Lando Norris in the backdrop.

What’s more, Hamilton and Verstappen are currently leading the championship fight by quite a margin from others on the grid. However, neither of the title contenders have gained much-anticipated appreciation from the fans.

And the limelight has often landed on one of the mid-field cars that has invariably followed them throughout the season so far. Yes! You might have already narrowed the focus down to one incredibly talented driver – Lando Norris.

The Briton has been absolutely fabulous this season, and it is safe to say that he has frequently punched above his weight. There are a significant number of reasons to prove that Norris is the best driver on the grid at the moment.

Read More: Why Was Daniel Ricciardo Almost a Second Behind Lando Norris in Austrian GP Qualifying?

Teammate battle with Daniel Ricciardo

When McLaren announced Daniel Ricciardo as a part of their driver’s line-up, it looked like Norris might be prone to more mistakes under pressure in 2021. But, little did we know that the reality was going to be the other way around.

Norris struggled in qualifying against the Australian in Bahrain and Imola. But, he very well managed to finish higher than Ricciardo during the Grand Prix.

By the end of the Portuguese Grand Prix, the difference between the duo had already exceeded 20 points. 8 races later, the gap now stands at a mammoth 63 points. This 63-point gap between the McLaren teammates is the third biggest difference this season, only after the Mercedes and Red Bull duos.

Ricciardo out-raced his teammate only twice this season. While the first one happened in Barcelona, the latter race was at the Hungaroring where Norris suffered his first DNF of the season. Although Ricciardo failed to score points in Hungary, he still managed to finish see the chequered flag.

Lando Norris: Best McLaren F1 driver since 2012

McLaren endured a series of drought-hit seasons since 2013 when the V6 engines came into action. The British outfit tried their luck with new drivers, new engines, but nothing worked out. Then arrived the savior in Norris.

Norris may have taken his own sweet time to get into a comfort zone. But, the moment he found his sweet spot at McLaren, he has been unstoppable.

Norris, having secured 3 podiums in 2021, is already the first driver to exceed two podiums for McLaren over a season since 2012, when Lewis Hamilton secured 7 podiums including 4 race wins. Also, Norris is on the verge of ending yet another dry streak for his team.

The very same Hamilton finished his final McLaren season with 190 points in the bag, which till now, has been the number to beat. And Norris is certainly on course to exceeding the number this season.

The Briton has already scored 113 points out of 11 races. With potentially 12 more to go, there are chances that Norris could achieve a final tally of over 200 points, which will also be a McLaren driver’s first such haul since 2011 by Jenson Button.

Lando Norris: The only mid-field driver to overtake Hamilton

Who could ever forget that scene? Yes, the Mercedes had damages to the floor. But, the scenario of Norris overtaking his fellow British colleague Hamilton during the Austrian GP was absolutely brilliant.

Also, that leaves Norris the only driver apart from Max Verstappen to make a move on Hamilton during a race this season. What’s interesting is that Norris’ move on Hamilton took place in a rather unusual place – around the high-speed turn 6.

Norris overtook the 7-time world champion on the inside of turn 6, which can be quite dangerous. Moreover, the fact that he managed to pull off such a daring move on a driver like Hamilton is undeniably an appreciable feat.

And Norris did not stop there, as he was keeping up with Valtteri Bottas’ pace, searching for a way to get past the other Mercedes driver as well. However, he ultimately finished in the final podium spot, just over 2 seconds adrift with the Finnish driver.

Read More: Lewis Hamilton Praises Lando Norris Mid-Duel at the Austrian GP

Most consistent F1 driver of the season

Until F1 arrived at Hungaroring, Norris remained the only driver to have scored points over each of the race weekends. However, the brilliant streak was sabotaged by a hydro-planing Mercedes of Bottas during the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Behind Norris was Hamilton, who failed to score once in Azerbaijan. Hence, Norris is still one of the most consistent drivers on the grid despite the Hungary mishap.

To bolster this consistency claim, here is another statistic. Out of the 11 races so far this season, Norris has finished in the top 5 in 9 of them, which includes four P5 finishes, two P4 finishes, and three P3 finishes.

Read More: Lando Norris Rewrites McLaren’s History Books With Unique F1 Record at Silverstone

Finishing higher than the starting position

Norris has finished higher than his starting position 8 out of 11 times this season. Of course, one of the failed races was at Hungaroring. The other two times he failed to finish higher than the qualifying position was in Austria.

At the Styrian GP, after qualifying P3, Norris reached home in P5, while at the Austrian GP, Norris finished P3 after starting from P2, which also witnessed the Briton start from the front row for the first time in F1.

Excluding the race in Hungary, Norris has gained a total of 17 positions this season, which is quite impressive, considering he has always started from the top 10, and there were hardly any positions to gain.

Overall, it has been an incredibly successful season so far for Norris, having beaten his very own Grand Prix-winning teammate, Ricciardo. Furthermore, he is still in the fight for the top 3 against big guns like Bottas and Red Bull’s latest recruit, Sergio Perez.

And a successful second half of the season is on cards as well. So, can Norris secure an impeccable P3 in the driver’s championship and consequently rise up to be the best F1 driver of 2021?

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