Lando Norris recently said that winning an F1 world championship is ‘priority number two’ for him. But another driver on the grid seems to have a very different view of what’s most important.
Norris has a genuine shot at the title, sitting just 22 points behind Oscar Piastri with six races and three Sprints remaining. That’s far from insurmountable, especially with plenty of racing still to come.
Still, for Norris, it’s not just about the championship. He’s spoken openly about wanting to enjoy life outside the sport too – and there’s nothing wrong with that perspective.
“I want to enjoy my life, have fun and share it with others,” he said. “For me, that’s the priority. Priority number two is to try and win the championship.”
But while Norris is focused on maintaining his happiness, other drivers might be more willing to put their personal lives aside in pursuit of glory – even if that extra edge isn’t visible on paper.
Chadwick says Russell’s focus is entirely on the F1 Title
Jamie Chadwick, speaking on the latest episode of the Sky Sports F1 podcast, gave some insight into just how determined George Russell is to win a world title. The two were once colleagues at Williams and have stayed in touch since.
Russell has yet to finish higher than fourth in the standings, but he did recently pick up his fifth career win and 23rd podium at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Mercedes haven’t hit their stride in the ground-effect era, but Russell has drawn parallels to Michael Schumacher’s path, who didn’t win his first title with Ferrari until his fifth season there.
If what’s being said about Mercedes’ 2026 engine turns out to be accurate, he could be an early favourite. He already seems well-prepared off track.
“I cannot express how impressive George is,” Chadwick said. “I spend a lot of time with him, and every year he becomes more and more impressive. He’s evolving, maturing, developing and with that becoming so much more aware of what he needs to work on and how he works on it.”
“He’s got this intensity around racing – it’s his life. Everything he wants is to win a world championship.”
“That leads to this hard-working nature but it’s not just in the car – it’s outside of the car too. Everything that he does is very much centred around making sure that he can just be in the best position possible to win races.”
George Russell’s title hopes: a question of timing
Damon Hill called Russell ‘Verstappen-esque’ after his perfect weekend at Marina Bay. Ironically, the Dutchman has played a role in the delay surrounding his rival’s contract.
It appears that Toto Wolff didn’t want to finalise his driver plans until he knew for sure that Verstappen was off the market. Since the world champion confirmed he was staying at Red Bull, the two sides have been wrangling over details like marketing commitments.
READ MORE: Carlos Sainz names two rivals faster than Max Verstappen in one-lap pace
F1TV’s Lawrence Barretto fears Russell could become the Andy Murray of racing. The consensus is that Murray would have won more Grand Slams had he not competed in the same era as Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal – three of the all-time greats.
Russell has already seen off Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes, but Verstappen remains a problem. If he doesn’t end up taking his Mercedes seat, beating him in multiple seasons is the ultimate challenge.
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