Alex Albon believes George Russell has a better chance of winning a Drivers’ Championship than Lando Norris in the next five years, despite the Mercedes driver being in a “bit of a dip right now”.
Albon, Norris and Russell recently took part in a three-way interview, which, unsurprisingly, turned comical very quickly.
The trio are good friends and actually fought against each other in Formula 2 back in 2018, ahead of all three being promoted to F1 in 2019.
In their final F2 campaign in 2018, it was Russell who claimed the title, something he’s yet to do in F1.
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This is largely due to the sport having been dominated by Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen since he entered the paddock, something which doesn’t look set to end anytime soon.
There is no doubting that all three are very talented, although Russell does appear to be in the best team to fight for the title.
Whilst McLaren might have the better car, they weren’t strong in the opening rounds.
Norris has recently been linked with a move to Red Bull though, after advisor Dr Helmut Marko admitted that he can “imagine” the 23-year-old racing for the Austrians.
Depending on what deal he agrees to once his current McLaren contract expires in 2025, Albon thinks Russell is the favourite of the trio to win the title, despite his recent poor form.
“Depends what Lando [Norris] signs to!” Albon joked to Formula1.com, in response to Norris asking who is most likely to win a title in the next five years.
“I reckon, it has to be you George [Russell]. You’re in a bit of a dip right now with the team. Oh, I feel awkward saying that seeing as we’re here in Mercedes.”
Russell himself is arguably in more of a dip than the team itself, given that Hamilton is closing in on Sergio Perez for second in the Drivers’ Championship.
Mercedes currently sit second in the standings and are 20 points ahead of Ferrari with six races remaining, with Russell taking “pride” in the team being where they are despite Albon believing that they’re struggling at the moment.
“I mean, I take pride that you say we’re in a dip yet we’re still P2 in the championship. We’re 40 points ahead of P3!” Russell responded.
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Albon quickly joked that Mercedes’ position must be down to Hamilton doing a “good job”, something he definitely is compared to Russell, who sits eighth in the Drivers’ Championship.
Russell admitted that Hamilton is doing considerably better than him this season, in what was a comical exchange between the Mercedes and Williams duo.
“Lewis [Hamilton] must be doing a good job!” quipped Albon, before Russell replied: “To be fair, he’s well ahead of me in the championship this year.”