Christijan Albers names his ‘top three’ drivers in F1 as Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are overlooked

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Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris have been leading the 2025 F1 standings for the entirety of the current campaign, but Christijan Albers has other ideas for the top three drivers currently on the grid.

The McLaren pairing of Piastri and Norris have struggled in recent race weekends, with both drivers failing to score a win in any of the last three Grands Prix for the first time this season.

Piastri now holds a 22-point lead over his counterpart in the F1 standings, and McLaren are wary of the threat Max Verstappen poses as he sits 41 points adrift of Norris in second.

Verstappen has been in fine form during the weeks that McLaren have faltered, winning back-to-back races at Monza and Baku to climb his way back up into contention.

The Red Bull driver is clearly the best driver on the grid at the moment, as he continues to overachieve in the sub-optimal machinery of the RB21 and aid Jenson Button’s past verdict on Verstappen being the best driver ever in F1.

READ MORE: All you need to know about McLaren F1 Team from team principal to engine

Christijan Albers snubs Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris in his verdict on the “top three” F1 drivers

As expected, Verstappen is one of the drivers whom Christijan Albers believes is one of the “top three” drivers on the grid at the moment and joining the reigning world champion in that list are the two drivers who are just below him in the standings: George Russell and Charles Leclerc.

Speaking on De Telegraaf’s Formule 1 podcast, the former F1 driver highlighted the different skillset that the current stock of F1 drivers have over the veterans on the grid, saying, “I’ve always said there are three men in Formula 1 right now who are just the top talents: Max, Leclerc, and Russell.

“They are, honestly, the very best at the moment. And they were last year as well. There’s nothing against Lewis Hamilton, nothing against Alonso, and so on. But this is simply a different generation.

“They are used to driving different cars with much less grip on the front, and so on. It’s just a different world now. They’ve been raised differently, as it were, in the racing world. What [Russell] showed yesterday was actually perfect, brilliant. And today, in the race as well.”

Russell claimed his second win of the season on the streets of Singapore during the past race weekend, as he kept a hold of the lead off the line and stayed there until the chequered flag fell 62 laps later.

READ MORE: George Russell shares why Max Verstappen made him ‘nervous’ after brilliant Singapore Grand Prix win

George Russell drew comparisons to Max Verstappen during his Singapore Grand Prix rout

Despite being staunch rivals both on and off the grid, Russell drew comparisons to Verstappen from 1996 F1 champion Damon Hill following his clinching of a fifth career win in the sport.

The former driver described the performance by the 27-year-old as “Verstappenesque” in a social media post after the race.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff thought Russell was “unstoppable” as he watched him race around the tight and twisty Marina Bay Street Circuit.

He still needs to tie down his star driver to a contract extension, to which he also offered an update on that.

Wolff revealed how close Mercedes were to striking a deal with Russell after his pole position on Saturday. An announcement is likely to be made in the coming weeks.