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The 2022 F1 season is well underway with reigning champion Max Verstappen leading the championship standings. He is the first non-British driver to hold the championship lead since Nico Rosberg when he won the championship in 2016.
Verstappen's highly controversial championship-winning race in Abu Dhabi last year ended a four-year run by Lewis Hamilton and a run of 13 years of championships won by a British or a German driver.
British drivers are the most successful in the sport so far, with 20 titles coming from 10 drivers. While we could be set for a spell of Dutch dominance from Verstappen, there are multiple British drivers in the sport that are talented enough to fight for and potentially win a world championship.
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In this piece, we will be looking at the next potential world champion from Britain.
British F1 drivers who could be the next world champion
#1 Lando Norris
Lando Norris is being touted as Britain's next sportstar thanks to his approachable and outgoing personality off the track. His incredible racecraft and pace, however, are also helping the Brit enhance his ever-growing reputation.
Norris has continued to improve throughout his years in F1 and is now convincingly out-performing eight-time race winner Daniel Ricciardo consistently. Despite not having the quickest car available on the grid, he has had one pole position to his name. He could have converted it into a race win but it fell away after a poor strategic call in Sochi last year.
Norris is just 22 years of age and he is already tied down to a long contract with McLaren. A significant factor for him is whether he will be provided with the right machinery to fight for a world championship or will he have to look elsewhere in the paddock.
#2 George Russell
George Russell is only just starting his Mercedes career, but he is already showing why he is so highly rated by fans and experts alike. Russell replaced the widely experienced Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes as Lewis Hamilton's teammate, so the expectations from the young British driver were quite low going into the 2022 F1 season.
He, however, has outperformed the seven-time world champion so far. It must be said that he has been helped by more conservative and consistent setups, whereas Hamilton has been trying different setups to find a solution to the constant problems with the new Mercedes car.
Russell has shown good speed throughout his Mercedes career in both qualifying and the race, but the most impressive part of his season has been his consistency in having a difficult-to-drive Mercedes car in the points. He has scored three podiums this year, one more than Hamilton, which is leaving British fans wondering what Russell could do with a more competitive car in the future.
#3 Lewis Hamilton
Despite the upcoming talent of George Russell and Lando Norris in the paddock, Lewis Hamilton remains one of the top drivers on the grid and is touted within the sport as the greatest of all time.
Despite calls for retirement from fans and experts this year, Hamilton looks more determined than ever to remain in the sport not only as a driver but as an ambassador for equality and diversity. If Mercedes can get back to its usual high standards, the seven-time world champion should be able to have at least one more try at breaking the record for several championships won.
Hamilton is still a fan favorite despite the new upcoming talent and he can still compete for a world championship depending on the developments in the Mercedes car.
Overall, Lewis Hamilton is still the most likely of all the British drivers to become the next F1 world champion with his experience and winning pedigree. As we have seen in the past with Hamilton, however, Mercedes is the right team to be with if you want to win the world championship. So in a few years, George Russell has a big chance of becoming a world champion. Meanwhile, Lando Norris will need to find a more competitive team or he'll become stuck as the best of the rest and unable to win a championship.
The future is looking bright for British fans with more F1 world championships appearing likely.
