Why F1’s new generation will bring ‘fresh air’ to the championship

The winds of change are sweeping through Formula 1.

First off, we are about to enter a new rules era of F1 cars that should allow for closer racing, more overtaking and more exciting and unpredictable grands prix.

But on top of that, we are seeing the culmination of perhaps the biggest generational change of drivers for years.

With George Russell having got the nod from Mercedes to make that step up to the works team next year, having served his apprenticeship well at Williams, F1 has laid clear foundations for the identity of the stars that will shape the sport over the next decade or more.

PLUS: How Russell left Mercedes with little real choice over his F1 promotion

What is especially exciting right now is that there no longer seems to be an attitude of the top team bosses being only willing to hand out their race seats to safer, more experienced, hands.

Russell at Mercedes, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz Jr at Ferrari, Lando Norris at McLaren, Max Verstappen at Red Bull, Pierre Gasly at AlphaTauri and Esteban Ocon at Alpine all have the opportunity to carve out multiple victories over the long term to become F1’s A-list attractions.

Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT02, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF21, Carlos Sainz Jr., Ferrari SF21, Esteban Ocon, Alpine A521, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521, and the remainder of the field at the start

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

It’s a far cry from just a few years ago when, what Romain Grosjean referred to as the ‘wrong’ generation of young drivers, found their F1 careers panning out in an era when race wins were nigh on impossible to get.

A stranglehold of top seats by the more experienced guys throughout the 2010s – as Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button grabbed by far the majority of race wins (and all the titles were locked out by Red Bull and Mercedes) – left scant opportunity for a number of hot shots who had arrived in the sport amid great fanfare.

Sure Verstappen became the flag bearer for the new wave of young talent that was coming up, but he is a once in a generation superstar that does things outside the norm.

As Grosjean told the ‘In the Pink’ podcast of Sky F1 presenter Natalie Pinkham last year: “If I think about it, maybe the ’86/’87 generation was the wrong one to be in. Paul di Resta, Nico Hulkenberg, myself, and even Sebastien Buemi a little bit, we all came at a time when the top seats were taken.

At very few points in F1 history was it ever so difficult for a midfield team to even finish on the podium, let alone earn a win that could transform the career of a driver. The low point really came from 2017, when F1 became almost the complete domain of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull 

“The old guys wouldn’t leave Formula 1 yet, and the young ones just came after. We kind of never really got our chance. It’s just the way it is, there’s not much you can control about that.”

Indeed, a number of those talents fell through the cracks and never really achieved all that they could have. Grosjean didn’t get the win that he seemed capable of, and it is remarkable that Hulkenberg never even got a podium.

Yet it wasn’t just about the misfortune of finding themselves against the established stars when they arrived on the scene, because every era has faced a time when there is this generational shift and it’s up to the youngsters to push on through.

Romain Grosjean, Haas F1 Team VF-19, battles with Nico Hulkenberg, Renault F1 Team R.S. 19

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

What made it so hard for this lost generation to step it up to the front was the fact they were in an F1 where there was this huge performance differential between the top three teams and the rest of the grid.

At very few points in F1 history was it ever so difficult for a midfield team to even finish on the podium, let alone earn a win that could transform the career of a driver.

The low point really came from 2017, when F1 became almost the complete domain of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull for two seasons.

The only podiums outside of those three teams was when Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll managed to grab top-three spots amid the chaotic Baku rounds in 2017 and 2018.

As F1 managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn famously pointed out, a couple of podiums for everyone else across 2017 and 2018 wasn’t just remarkable: it was proof of there being something very wrong with the system.

“Two podiums from a total of 123 (across 2017/2018) in unacceptable, especially when it comes with an ever increasing technical and financial divide,” he said.

“It’s a problem we are tackling together with the FIA and the team, because the future of F1 depends on it.”

Race winner Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes-AMG F1 and Sergio Perez, Force India celebrate on the podium

Photo by: Sutton Images

The two-tier F1, which had played out when Liberty Media took over, proved to be the catalyst for the raft of changes that will culminate in the all-new rules for next year.

The arrival of a cost cap, a fairer distribution of commercial rights income, and cars that can run much closer to each other, are all reasons to feel optimistic that things will never be so one-sided as they were back in 2017/2018.

And one of the unintended consequences of a grid that has already started becoming closer is that it has handed opportunity to more drivers – something we’ve started seeing already with Gasly and Ocon becoming F1’s latest winners.

The two-tier F1, which had played out when Liberty Media took over, proved to be the catalyst for the raft of changes that will culminate in the all-new rules for next year

That has raised the stock of the new generation; and delivered a situation where teams know that having the right super-fast youngster on board is an absolute must.

Surely it won’t be long before Norris, Sainz or Russell get their day in the sunshine too, as F1 enters a really exciting chapter where the right generation of drivers are being put to work in the right generation of cars.

As Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said at the Dutch Grand Prix about F1’s newest stars strutting their stuff: “I think those kids are bringing fresh air to F1...”

Not even F1’s remaining veterans Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel could disagree.

Front row starters George Russell, Williams, and pole man Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, celebrate in Parc Ferme

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images