In the pub with Britain's future F1 hopes

As Lando Norris and George Russell cast furtive eyes across The Cricketers' lunch menu, for a fleeting moment it looks as if both will order fish finger sandwiches and chips.

It seems Britain's two newest Formula 1 racers have momentarily forgotten themselves and, more importantly, the regimented nutritional code that governs the lives of modern athletes.

A sense of dietary professionalism eventually prevails and George dashes back outside to purchase the requisite lean-meat sandwich and salad. Lando isn't far behind, returning with his own salad and fruit salad combo.

There is a sense both would prefer to indulge in some hearty British fare - but a collective sense of duty has overcome it. George and Lando need to be in tip-top shape for the challenge ahead, as they get set to join reigning champion Lewis Hamilton in representing Great Britain on the F1 grid.

In the decade since David Coulthard hung up his helmet, the likes of Paul di Resta, Max Chilton, Will Stevens, Jenson Button and Jolyon Palmer have come and gone. Norris and Russell represent fresh hope for a bright British future in F1, and that future is clearly not built on fish fingers.

F1 Racing: Lando Norris, George Russell, welcome to The Cricketers, a good old English pub. You've been very professional in going for the clear liquid [both drivers have opted for pints of water with 'ice and a slice', rather than ale. For the record, F1R is drinking Coca-Cola].

George Russell: I pressured Lando into going to M&S earlier...

Lando Norris: Yeah, I wanted a fish finger sandwich and then you made me go to M&S!

F1R: Peer pressure. We thought you might have been tempted to go for the pub grub?

GR: I was, but after this I have to go to the gym and do a core workout.

LN: I've got Zwift to do later.

F1R: You've got what?

LN: Zwift. Online cycling. So, it's like a trainer basically - you hook it up to your bike, put a motor in and that connects to the computer and tells you how many watts you're pulling, and does your speed and everything.

F1R: It seems we live in a world of virtual everything now: virtual racing, virtual training...

GR: He's well into the virtual stuff, I'm behind the times!

New McLaren driver Norris spends much of his time driving and racing 'online'. He even has his own simulator set up in his Guildford flat.

F1R: Turning to the racing season, we are in a quintessentially British environment here, a British pub, and you represent the new hope for British motorsport at the top of single-seater racing. How do you feel about stepping up to the plate in F1, representing your country and following in the footsteps of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton?

GR: It's very nice to be doing it for Britain, flying the flag for Britain, but there is no additional pressure on my shoulders because of that. It's more that we have achieved this dream of ours, that we have been working towards for so long - doing it for ourselves and our families, who have supported us throughout.

LN: Lewis is still in the sport. I don't know how many more years he'll do it, but if he'd left at the end of last year, then I guess there would maybe be some more pressure in terms of everyone wanting a top British driver.

It's natural that every driver should want to build up their own reputation, and not try to stand on the shoulders of those who came before, but valuable lessons can still be learned from other successful racers. While beating Norris to win last year's Formula 2 championship, Russell also spent time as Mercedes' reserve driver, which meant he got to watch Lewis at work first hand.

GR: I've been very fortunate in the past two years, to be in the shadow of the Mercedes team and Lewis. He has built an amazing team around him - the engineers, performance engineers, the data guys on his side of the garage - and there's a great understanding among everybody. It has helped me appreciate that a guy like Lewis isn't just sunshine and glory. This guy is absolutely flat-out off the track, and not just in terms of his personal commitments. He's not just living the dream then chilling when he's not at a racetrack. There is a reason that he is the best in the business.

F1R: Lando, have you got a similar insight with Fernando Alonso at McLaren? What did you take from being in that environment?

LN: When you come up through F4, F3, you never know what to expect until you get to be in George's position, or my position. Being team-mates last year with Fernando at Daytona [they competed for Zak Brown's United Autosports LMP2 team in the 24-hour sportscar race], I got to see how he approaches everything. You build up your own attributes coming up the ladder, but when you see how an F1 driver is made, a double world champion, then you understand how it's possible.

F1R: Did you mine them both for tips, or were you more fly-on-the-wall - letting them do their own thing and taking notes?

GR: I flew on the wall, I suppose.

F1R: Lando, you made Fernando coffee, didn't you, in the garage?

LN: I was just trying to be nice!

GR: Who knows what else you put in there... maybe you spiked it!

LN: I wanted to race!

GR: If he'd been ill the following day, you would have been driving the car!

These two raced each other hard in 2018, at the level just below F1, but you sense from their rapport that there is no animosity. It seems Britain's two newest F1 drivers get along pretty well, perhaps helped by the fact they didn't cross paths much until reaching Formula 2.

GR: In my career, I'd say Lance Stroll is the driver I've raced against most. And Charles Leclerc. In my first year of KF3 [karting], I raced Max Verstappen, Esteban Ocon, Charles Leclerc and Lance Stroll. I raced with Alex Albon, Lando, Antonio Giovinazzi - we were team-mates in F3 - as well. I've raced against seven guys on the grid, or six now Ocon's not there. It feels a bit bizarre. When you're younger, you look up to F1 and all these amazing drivers, and then suddenly you're there with the guys you were in the paddock with for all your youth.

Russell's hopes of renewing many of these battles this year will largely depend on how drastically his new team can improve. Williams endured one of the worst seasons in its proud history last year, leading to further upheaval behind the scenes, and its 2019 campaign is not looking good at all at present amid the team's tumultuous testing period. Norris could also be set for a season at or near the back of the grid as McLaren works through a post-Honda, post-Alonso rebuilding process.

LN: In some ways it's a good thing, since you don't have as much pressure on you as you would going into a race-winning team or a championship-winning team. We know the cars are not going to be amazing, but at the same time you can improve your driving alongside the car. Just knowing the history of McLaren, or Williams, and what the drivers have gone on to do, gives you belief that you can become part of that in the future.

GR: It certainly takes a bit of pressure off, because it is a longer-term project. There is no pressure to go in there and get results from race one, because realistically that isn't going to happen.

It also helps that Norris and Russell aren't strangers to this world. Russell tested repeatedly for Mercedes while on its junior scheme and set a new track record at the Hungaroring, which played a part in securing him a Williams seat, while Norris effectively won a shootout with Stoffel Vandoorne at McLaren, by driving impressively in place of Alonso on practice outings at last year's Belgian and Italian Grands Prix.

GR: I think Alex [Albon, who finished third in F2 last season and graduates to F1 this year with Toro Rosso], compared with us, is in a tricky position because he's been thrown in out of nowhere. No sim work, no testing. Whenever I've driven in an F1 car I've felt better than the time before.

LN: I think we've been nurtured a lot more, into Formula 1.

GR: We know what the tyres are like, know what the procedures are, we know the teams...

LN: And Alex has done nothing. It's going to be tough for him.

GR: Yeah there's going to be a lot of pressure on his shoulders in that team.

F1R: That could've been you Lando. They were keen on you at one point...

LN: [Laughing] No comment.

F1R: You didn't fancy it?

Norris adeptly switches the subject back to his preparation for F1, rather than discuss reported interest from Red Bull during the early part of 2018...

LN: You've got to do a lot more preparation now than in other years, because there's so much more to do when driving. It's a lot more complex, and you have to think about it a lot more because this is the top level.

F1R: How are you both feeling about the prospect of this new life in F1? Are you mentally ready for the hectic schedule?

GR: Yeah, I think the 'living the dream' part is the driving part. As amazing as it is going around the world, we don't see the world. We fly from London to the airport to the hotel; then the hotel to the track, the track to the hotel, every day... and the last day it's the track to the airport. Then you go home.

LN: Everyone thinks it's so glorious!

GR: The track may as well be on a desert island really. We're in F1 and racing against the best guys in the world, in the best cars in the world, on the best tracks in the world, but we don't get to see these amazing places, unfortunately, because we've got a bigger and more important job to do.

F1R: Are there any creature comforts you take with you that you absolutely cannot do without?

GR: Teabags. Fortunately, at Williams, I think teabags are already covered.

F1R: What about you Lando? How will you get your Weetabix fix? [Norris is a self-confessed Weetabix fiend].

LN: I'm not drinking milk anymore so I can't have my Weetabix...

F1R: Not even with soya milk?

LN: Who does soya milk?

GR: Loads of people use soya milk. My girlfriend does...

F1R: With that touch of sweetness you can afford less sugar on your Weetabix.

LN: I never have sugar on my Weetabix!

GR: That's why he's in F1 and you're not...

LN: What was the question?

F1R: Creature comforts you'd take with you on the road. A teddy bear perhaps?

GR: I'd take a pillow with me, because I prefer a thin pillow and quite often in hotel rooms they only have these big thick pillows. They'll have hundreds of pillows but no thin ones...

LN: I'd take nothing except a bed. And a double mattress.

GR: I thought I was over the top taking my pillow and you're taking a bloody bed with you?!

LN: Duvet, mattress... it's like two different mattresses, memory foam... I never stay on hotel beds.

Brits often make for eccentric travellers and it seems these two are no exception. But theirs is about to become a life of professional precision and absolute dedication. To become the best, you need to beat the best, and the road towards becoming Britain's best in F1 is a potentially long and arduous one. When embarking on such a journey, small details like the peculiarities of sleep truly matter. As does choosing an M&S salad over a fish finger sandwich, however tempted you might be...