The Formula 1 world championship is witnessing the fascination of the fight for the world title between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, while not giving up looking at his future. In addition to the new rules ready for 2022 and the news on the developments of the calendar, the circus now has a package of young talents destined to run for the role of world champion for the next few seasons.
Among those who have most attracted the attention of a former owner of a Formula 1 team such as Eddie Jordan, the names of Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon have emerged, but not only: according to the 73-year-old Irishman, in fact, another young man to be held in high regard is Lando Norris who, according to him, will be a next world champion in this series. An opinion that the former owner of the Jordan Grand Prix – present in F1 from 1991 to 2005, with 4 victories – explained in the podcast F1 Nation: “I like Norris and I think he’s really special – commented the Dubliner – that said, Gasly surprises me every time that I see him in the car, because he has the ability to do great things as we all saw with the victory in Italy last year. I don’t know how well the car really performs, but knowing an astute team principal like Franz Tost, I suppose it’s a very good car ”.
“Personally, I have also had contact with Vijay Mallya – former owner of Force India – and I was a fan of Ocon. We noticed how professional he was in taking the win in Hungary and I think he did a great job despite all the pressure. Certainly Alonso helped him along with other favorable circumstances, but in any case he does not yet have the style to be able to withstand a competition like that between Hamilton and Verstappen. If we want to find someone of these standards – he added – I think the only one around is Norris. I really think that if we are looking for a candidate British world champion, we will be able to find him in the figure of Lando“.
A not entirely trivial thought if pronounced by Jordan, who became famous precisely for his innate ability to find young talents to launch in Formula 1. The most sensational and famous example was the one that materialized in 1991, when the Irish manager offered the opportunity for Michael Schumacher to make his debut in the top flight. Thirty years after that historic decision, Jordan is back to talking about Schumacher, this time focusing on the son Mick, now engaged in the circus at the wheel of the Haas. When asked about the search for a comparison between father and son, the former team principal replied: “It is too early to say anything – he has declared – also because I haven’t seen much yet. I saw him work too hard in Hungary: I thought ‘yes, I don’t know how bad that car is’, but it must be pretty bad, seeing the way he lost positions. He is learning – he concluded – and sometimes it takes some time. His dad didn’t have to wait for anything, but to be honest I think Jordan was a good car at the time. ”