Did George Russell beat Lando Norris in junior racing categories?

George Russell and Lando Norris are two of the most exciting drivers in F1 and have been capturing attention of the fans since their debut in 2019.

Both British drivers entered the sport in 2019 with Russell being a Mercedes junior driver, joining Williams and Norris joining McLaren. In the first three years in F1, Norris got the better of Russell, as the 25-year-old struggled down the bottom of the grid with Williams.

However, Russell finally got the better of Norris in 2022 after he made his move to the front of the grid with Mercedes. Interestingly, it was not the first time the Mercedes driver triumphed over Norris.

Both drivers have been racing each other since their early years in karting and junior categories in single-seaters. In their F2 battle, Russell beat Norris by 66 points to become the F2 champion in 2018.

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"I’m sure he knows he can beat George, and he has beaten George before" - McLaren CEO on Lando Norris

McLaren CEO Zak Brown tipped his charge Lando Norris to beat George Russell in F1 and praised the talent of the 23-year-old driver.

Speaking to ESPN, he said:

“Lando’s one of those guys, if we put everyone in a dirt buggy, and we put all the F1 drivers in a race, he’d be at the front because he’s got that kind of natural talent. He wants to be winning races; I’m sure he knows he can beat George, and he has beaten George before. … and he goes out and wins. He’s going to be anxious people he’s raced with don’t get too many more wins before he starts getting his.”

Current Williams driver Alex Albon, who has raced alongside Lando Norris and George Russell since karting, spoke to Crash.net:

“It’s no secret that every driver, once you’re in F1, the next goal is to be a F1 world champion. Of course George looks like he’s made that big first step forward. Lando too, and he’s doing an amazing job. We’ll need to be a bit quicker to be fighting for the championship, but at the minute, I’m really happy with where I’m at. It might take a little bit longer but that is the plan.”

It will be fascinating to see whether George Russell or Lando Norris wins the F1 World Championship first.