‘Absolutely perfect’ F1 star has just become the best driver never to win a world title

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There are several capable drivers on the F1 grid who have yet to secure their first world championship, but one, recently described by their team as ‘absolutely perfect’, stands out as the best driver never to have won a title.

Between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, the 2025 F1 title looks to be going home with a maiden winner this season, if Max Verstappen is unable to make a last-minute bid for a fifth consecutive championship in the final six rounds of the season.

Charles Leclerc has looked like the most likely driver to win a title since he joined the sport with Alfa Romeo in 2018. The Monegasque driver was tipped to be a favourite for the 2022 season before Red Bull threw down the gauntlet, and often finds himself in and around the top three at most race weekends.

However, the driver who must be considered the best star on the grid to never have won a championship is George Russell, and his win at the Singapore Grand Prix last weekend only cemented his gap in skill to the rest of the grid.

The Mercedes man is held in high regard within the F1 paddock despite often being overlooked, with Martin Brundle highlighting Russell as the most underrated driver on the grid prior to his brilliant showing in the Singapore Grand Prix.

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George Russell must be considered the best driver on the F1 grid not to have won a drivers’ title

Brundle was also surprised at Russell’s career F1 stats after his feat under the lights in Singapore, noting that he thought the win had marked more than seven pole positions and five Grand Prix victories that the Mercedes driver currently has to his name.

Russell’s podium count is more telling of how consistently impressive he has been, currently amassing 23 top-three finishes from 146 starts in the sport.

When comparing them to the podium counts of Leclerc (48), Norris (40) and Piastri (24), the count may not seem too groundbreaking at first glance.

However, one must take into account the fact that the first few years of Russell’s F1 career were spent at the wheel of Williams’s backmarker cars, at a time when Leclerc was already racking up wins and Norris tallying up some podiums.

Piastri has had a much more comfortable journey to a car that is capable of winning races. The Australian secured his maiden win in F1 during his sophomore year, and has continued to add to his record on his way to the top of the championship standings in 2025.

After Russell stepped up to the works Mercedes team in 2022, he quickly overtook his fellow Brit in podium count by securing eight top-three finishes throughout the season.

He also beat seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton in the Silver Arrows teammate battle during his debut season at the team, something that is not to be sniffed at.

With two wins, two pole positions and eight podiums already under his belt in the current campaign, Russell has comfortably sat in fourth place in the F1 standings for the majority of the season.

The results have cemented him as the best driver outside of the top three that have dominated the top step of the podium, something that 2009 world champion Jenson Button noted in his verdict on Russell having the best season out of everyone else on the 2025 grid.

READ MORE: How Mercedes staff privately reacted to George Russell’s Singapore Grand Prix win

Mercedes chief thinks George Russell was ‘absolutely perfect’ prior to his win in Singapore

Damon Hill believes Russell’s win in Singapore was ‘Verstappen-esque’, through the way he comfortably stretched out a lead over his rivals behind him.

Well before he took the chequered flag at the most demanding race on the F1 calendar, Russell showed his skillset that points to the direction of him being a dominant champion in the future.

The British driver was truly untouchable in qualifying on Saturday. Russell set two laps in Q3, both of which would have been good enough to secure pole position for the Grand Prix.

Even against the in-form Verstappen and McLaren duo, whose car was suited to the tight and twisting sections of the Marina Bay Street Circuit, Russell shone.

Speaking in a debrief video for Mercedes’ official YouTube channel, team director Andrew Shovlin highlighted how ‘perfect’ Russell was, saying, “It was an impressive step. As I said, that’s what you’re looking for.

“If you want to be on pole, it’s about making that step into Q3 that the others can’t match. And you are walking on a tightrope. If you go easy, you find that you’re just not quick enough, you push it a bit too hard, you slide, and you build temperature.

“But it was an absolutely perfect lap from George. And then he delivered on race day.”

Russell has talked about his chances of winning a title in the past, drawing a comparison to the fact that Michael Schumacher didn’t win his first title until his fifth season with the iconic Ferrari team.

With Russell entering his fifth season with Mercedes next year, the new regulations could gift him his best opportunity yet to etch his name in F1 history.