Damon Hill believes only Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen are better than 24-year-old right now

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Former Formula 1 world champion Damon Hill believes that McLaren star Lando Norris is in the top tier of drivers on the grid now.

Damon Hill was speaking on Sky Sports F1 about the potential of the 24-year-old driver.

There is a sense of when not if Lando Norris will finally win his first Formula 1 race.

More than half of the current grid has stood on the top step of the podium, but Norris has yet to achieve that feat.

His teammate Oscar Piastri hasn’t technically won a Grand Prix, although he does have a Sprint Race victory to his name.

At the start of the year, it looked like Norris would be lucky to be in contention to score points given how far off the pace they were.

However, they got their upgrades spot on and it wasn’t long before the 24-year-old was challenging for podiums.

He couldn’t quite get the better of Max Verstappen to stand on the take the chequered flag first but displayed his immense talent.

Damon Hill has now suggested that Norris is a top tier driver and only multiple world champions Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton are above him right now.

His potential is unquestionable, now McLaren need to deliver a car that can help him challenge the leading drivers in the sport.

Hill insists Norris is a top tier driver

Talking about the British driver’s ranking within the sport, Hill said: “We always talk about the tiers of drivers within Formula 1, where does Lando [Norris] sit now?”

Hill: “I think he’s in the top tier. The very top tier is Lewis [Hamilton] and Max [Verstappen].

“And then there’s a very close collection of drivers who are very, very good, he is one that you look at and say OK in the right opportunity in the right situation, he’s a championship winner, without question.

“He’s a Grand Prix winner, I know he hasn’t done one yet, but he’s going to isn’t he? They just need to give him a bit more speed in that McLaren.”

Norris will have aspirations to move up to the top tier of drivers alongside the likes of Verstappen and Hamilton, but as Hill says, some of that is out of his control.

McLaren go into the winter break with momentum but with the knowledge that their rivals will be working relentlessly to improve their cars.

Red Bull would have been working on the latest iteration of their car for a long time and closing the gap to them is going to be extremely difficult.

That’s without taking Mercedes and Ferrari into account and the likes of Aston Martin or even another team could make big strides too.

Ultimately, all Norris can do is drive the wheels off whatever car he’s given and hope that’s enough to finally secure that elusive victory.