The F1 drivers facing unusually unfair challenges in 2019

Imagine starting a new job with one of the most successful companies in history. You're young, you have a cracking CV, and you're ready to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the best in the business. Sounds great, right?

The problem is, your new employer is a fallen giant struggling to get back on its feet. It's been overtaken by younger enterprises with different ways of working and has been on a managerial merry-go-round, with little to show for it except a run of bad decisions and bad results.

So as well as learning the ropes as a new professional, with the pressure and expectation that comes with being so highly rated, you'll be performing in a troubled environment. And make no mistake, you must perform. Oh, and you only have one year - maybe two - to do it.

That probably makes it all sound less fun.

But fun isn't the first priority in Formula 1, so F1's trio of British-born rookies face some unwelcome and harsh challenges in 2019.

There should never be a bad time for a Formula 2 champion, runner-up or serial race winner to make their Formula 1 debut. It should be the culmination of one series of hard work and success, and the exciting first chapter in a new story entirely. In different circumstances, it probably would be for all involved.

F2 champion George Russell has joined Williams, the third most successful team in history. Runner-up Lando Norris will race for McLaren, the second most successful team in history. Third-place finisher Alex Albon has been recalled by Red Bull and extracted from his first professional contract, with Nissan in Formula E, to race for Toro Rosso, which has an excellent track record of churning out race winners for its senior team.

They make up arguably the most talented crop of feeder-series graduates to step up to F1 at the same time, and in a just world they would have more competitive prospects than they do.

Instead they will need to quickly show their ability, and begin to realise their potential, simply to cope with major challenges this season.

It's particularly cruel timing for Russell and Norris. Any other season in the last half a century and they would be relishing the success that making their grand prix debut with McLaren or Williams could realistically bring. Sure they will still be excited, determined and committed to making their mark, but McLaren and Williams have slumped from being among F1's benchmarks to making up the numbers.

Williams is a team that prides itself on its history, but that history is one of its only sources of pride of late, given its present is looking progressively more grim

When Lewis Hamilton stepped up to F1 with McLaren in 2007, many expected big things of the reigning GP2 champion and how he performed under that pressure was the big question mark. Norris is by no means the finished article, and faces a big test up against Carlos Sainz Jr, but if he and McLaren do not excel this season, it's highly unlikely to be simply the driver's fault.

That's how much the balance has shifted. Though Norris only won one race in F2 last season, on his debut in Bahrain, his record speaks for itself: the guy is a champion.

But so was Stoffel Vandoorne.

Few have arrived in F1 with such a glittering CV; few have made as little impact as he did at McLaren. Since McLaren seems no closer to the front of the midfield than when Vandoorne struggled so much, Norris will be under scrutiny to show he has learned from his predecessor's shortcomings. And that's not going to be easy in a tight midfield scrap.

If he's to stand a chance of comparing favourably with Sainz, one of F1's most established midfield operators, he needs to hit the ground running. McLaren has been working hard to ensure that happens.

"There was a strong awareness that this was going to be Lando's debut, so there was a lot of focus on that, trying to help Lando understand the difference between tyres and different fuel loads and so on," explains McLaren sporting director Gil de Ferran.

"It is unfortunate in a way that we don't have more testing because someone like Lando would benefit a lot from having more days in the car throughout the winter.

"Are we going to have challenges in the future? Undoubtedly. Because that is just what happens. Experience doesn't necessarily make you quicker, it makes you a little more linear in your performances rather than up and down.

"I am fully expecting challenges and the way to work through them is to work together and support each other."

Russell faces a similar fight to work through challenges, but his are much greater.

Williams is a team that prides itself on its history, however that history is one of its only sources of pride of late.

Williams's 2019 car arrived late for pre-season testing. When it got going, it was slow. By the time it gets to Melbourne it will be different, but for the wrong reasons: the FIA isn't happy with part of its front suspension design, or its wing mirrors, so Williams must make changes to ensure legality in the season opener.

Oh, and its chief technical officer has taken a "leave of absence" for "personal reasons" on the eve of the new season.

Russell, on a multi-year deal at Williams and with the shadow of Mercedes watching in the background, is an immensely exciting prospect. But he's not the messiah, just a very quick driver. And that alone isn't enough to eliminate the trouble engulfing Williams.

At the moment, Russell's sheer enthusiasm will suffice. "Everything has come so fast this year," he says.

"Everything's going to be flat out [in Australia] and that's exciting. I can't wait for it."

But that will fade to some degree if Williams remains uncompetitive, and then Russell will need to dig deep to maintain his focus and motivation, particularly if his team-mate Robert Kubica struggles on his return to F1 after an absence of eight seasons.

If Williams's actual campaign is as troubled as its pre-season, Russell will barely be fighting for scraps. All he can do is try to beat Kubica, and maybe pick up a point or two if the opportunity arises.

Otherwise, there's little he can do to impress.

The least experienced of the three complete rookies is probably the best-placed

However, the relentless drive that led him to back-to-back GP3 and F2 titles does mean Russell is arguably the best-placed of the rookies to handle this particular challenge. He's extremely unlikely to get bogged down by feeling sorry for himself.

"Sometimes I need to step back and pinch myself and realise I'm a Formula 1 driver making my debut," he admits.

"But at the end of the day, my goal is to be in Formula 1 for many years. If I step back and relax too much, then I might be kicked out the door.

"So my number one goal at the moment is to work with the team to try and push this car and get everything out of it."

The least experienced of the three complete rookies is probably the best-placed. Albon does not enter F1 with the same hype as Russell or Norris but he's highly rated by those who know him and who have followed him closely.

He also arrives after a bizarre 2018: from 'begging' DAMS for a 2018 F2 seat, to doing enough to earn an FE deal with Nissan, to emerging as Red Bull's favoured option for Toro Rosso and triggering a lengthy process to get him out of his electric single-seater deal. And all this after being dropped by Red Bull some eight years ago after a tumultuous first year in car racing.

"At Red Bull, we're honest," says Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost. "We say, 'Look, your performance isn't good enough, you're out'.

"But then if they develop themselves, if they get more mature, if they show that they can do it, they can come back. No problem."

By the time pre-season testing started, Albon had but a handful of laps in an F1 car to his name, from a shakedown the previous week in Italy.

Then he looped his Toro Rosso into the gravel trap. The dream reprieve risked being undermined, but Albon regrouped and by the end of the test looked comfortable and quick. Given Toro Rosso has embraced the FIA's non-listed parts allowance to use 2018 Red Bull components, its car should be in the thick of the midfield fight.

That means Albon probably starts the year as the most likely of the rookies to score points, and he has another advantage in Toro Rosso's skill at honing young talent such as Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen.

"We did a lot of winter work with him," says Tost.

"He was in Faenza [the team's factory] a couple of times, with the steering wheel he understands everything, all the changes you can do there. He studied this quite well.

"Driving isn't a problem. The problem is coming out from a cockpit, talking to seven different engineers - chassis, data, engine, aerodynamics, tyres - and they all want to get feedback. This makes it more difficult for the drivers."

It's worth noting that erratic circumstances played a major role in Albon getting this opportunity. Brendon Hartley was booted out and Pierre Gasly promoted to Red Bull to replace Daniel Ricciardo. Dan Ticktum didn't have a superlicence. Red Bull wasn't interested in the Mercedes and McLaren castaways Pascal Wehrlein and Vandoorne.

If any of Russell, Norris, or Albon produce a jaw-dropping qualifying lap or finish, they could cement their immediate future in one swift moment. If they do not, hopefully they are given the time they need

So Albon got his opportunity. But now he must seize it. His recall, and that of team-mate Daniil Kvyat who is somehow back at STR for a third time, isn't Red Bull suddenly going soft. As Tost says, Red Bull sets relentlessly high targets and is still unforgiving if a driver doesn't meet them and has no justifiable reason for failing.

That means Albon is under major scrutiny and his big chance could be taken away from him almost as suddenly as he was handed it.

But he's vastly less experienced in an F1 car and Toro Rosso's development rate was poor in 2018. In his own words, race management "is not easy" and that is his main area to work from "as well as getting in the rhythm, and getting up to speed quickly". He must be given time to adjust.

There is another rookie in the field, of course: Alfa Romeo driver Antonio Giovinazzi.

While he has contested two races before, for Sauber two years ago, this is his first full campaign and his first proper car racing programme since crashing out of the 2017 Chinese Grand Prix.

The real difference between Giovinazzi and the rest is that he's set for a fairly normal rookie season. He will have his chances to shine, and in 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen he has a known quantity of a team-mate. Alfa is small and young, but is on an obvious upward trajectory on track and off it. The environment to learn and perform in is much more driver-friendly.

That doesn't mean we should dismiss Giovinazzi's results, more that we shouldn't be misled if they compare particularly favourably with those of the other rookies.

Albon has less of an excuse because his machinery should be better, but that is offset by his F1 car experience. For Russell or Norris the challenge is simpler only in terms of its definition: it's difficult to see either having a car capable of producing a jaw-dropping qualifying lap or finish.

If any of Russell, Norris, or Albon achieves that, they could cement their immediate future in one swift moment. If they don't, hopefully they are given the time they need.

Being an F1 rookie is immensely challenging even when a driver only has their own things to focus on. When there are other major variables in the mix, meeting your own expectations isn't always enough - just ask ex-Williams driver Sergey Sirotkin or Hartley.

It's only right that their teams are patient. Each is saying the right things heading into the new season, but actions speak louder than words.