Exclusive: Formula 1 champion Damon Hill on Lando Norris being ‘world champion material’, Oscar Piastri’s collapse and why he won’t rule Max Verstappen out of the title race just yet

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Lando Norris is the championship leader and title favourite heading into the Las Vegas Grand Prix(Image: Getty Images)

Damon Hill is backing Lando Norris to seal the Formula 1 crown this year – but warned his fellow Brit that there is still work to be done. Because beleaguered McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri, 24 points behind, can still revive his fading championship charge while Max Verstappen, even further back, “will not give up while there’s even a sliver of a chance”.

Norris, 26, has won the last two races to take the high ground with three rounds remaining, including next weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix. And 1996 title-winner Hill has been impressed by what he has seen from the championship leader in recent weeks.

He told Mirror Sport: “He’s found something, hasn’t he? And it’s been perfect timing. It’s come at a time when Oscar suddenly looks a bit forlorn, a bit under pressure. They’re both learning about fighting for a World Championship… It’s not the same as just driving.

“It becomes a discipline, really, a mental and psychological discipline which is quite demanding. That’s what the goal is: To find out who’s got the right stuff and who hasn’t.

“Lando is world champion material, he’s already shown that this year. Yes, there was a time when he went missing, but he’s definitely back with a vengeance now, so it’s looking good for him.

“From a patriotic point of view, of course we’re rooting for Lando – keep it in the family a little bit! We’ve got a great record in this country of world champions. We always seem to be able to produce a new one. If one of us withers, then there’s another one waiting.”

Piastri led the championship for six months and was the clear favourite after winning the Dutch Grand Prix in August while Norris suffered an engine failure. Not only has the Aussie failed to win since, he has also been beaten by Norris in every race and hasn’t reached the podium in any of the last five.

But Hill believes, with the help of trusted manager and nine-time F1 race-winner Mark Webber, Piastri can still find a way back. He said: “His trajectory, he was getting stronger and stronger, but you can’t ignore the fact that he’s had a bit of a blip.

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Damon Hill told The Mirror he believes Lando Norris is proven ‘world champion material'(Image: Philip Coburn/Daily Mirror)

“What they’re very good at doing, these young drivers, is they’re good at analysing what might be causing that and they’ll fix it. If they’re any good, they’ll find out what’s going on and get stronger. Formula 1 is about finding out what you’re made of.

“Mark is able to guide him and give him some encouragement, hopefully, on that side of things. You do need to draw on resources, as a driver. It can be quite a lonely place if you don’t have someone whose brain you can pick. You certainly can’t go around the place asking everyone, you have to have trusted advisors.”

As for four-time champion Verstappen, the Red Bull racer is 49 points off the top with only 83 still up for grabs and said after an impressive comeback drive from the pit lane to third place in Sao Paulo last Sunday that a fifth-straight crown is no longer “realistic”. Regardless, Hill has seen enough from the Dutchman over the years to resist ruling him out just yet.

He added: “Nobody’s counting him out because they’ve seen what he’s done before. Just when you think he’s on the floor and the count’s gone to nine, he jumps up and delivers the knockout blow. He will not give up while there’s a sliver of a chance and he’ll be a factor in races to come.”

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Max Verstappen ruled out his title chances but Damon Hill thinks he is wrong to say his challenge is over(Image: Formula 1 via Getty Images)

Of the three of them, Verstappen is the only one with first-hand experience of what it takes to get over the line. Norris pushed him as hard as he could in the second half of last season but still finished 63 points adrift of the Dutchman, and Hill does not subscribe to the belief that the Brit’s 2024 experience has helped him to better manage this year’s battle.

He added: “I don’t think anything is preparation for really being in contention. What happens is: it becomes a reality. For a long time, it was a dream and then it became maybe a possibility, but maybe a long shot. When it’s almost a guaranteed outcome – you only had those two really at the start of the season who were looking like they were on track – then it starts to play on your mind.

“The reality of it is quite a shock, I think, for the first time that you’ve been in that situation. You have to have the right approach to it. Someone like Max, he’s got over the hurdle of the first title. With the first title, it gets a bit tantalising and that can be distracting as well.”