The Italian driver has raced against a number of drivers who have now moved forward to Formula 1 in his feeder series career, and especially in the four years he has spent driving in Formula 2, between 2017 and 2020. Three of them have won a race in the 2024 Formula 1 season: Charles Leclerc in Monaco, Lando Norris at Miami, and George Russell in Austria.
Asked by Pit Debrief about the most talented driver he has faced throughout the span of his very long and diverse career, and whether that might be Charles Leclerc considering the very impressive championship run he had on their Formula 2 debut in 2017, Ghiotto brought up the other two drivers as well:
“Yeah, for sure he’s naturally gifted a lot, I mean it’s quite clear, but I feel like there’s a lot of talents in F1 that I would put probably same level as Charles, like Lando, so Lando Norris, even George Russell, I think he’s really good, so, I mean these are all people that I have had the chance to race against, yeah, so I had the chance to fight against them and to see what they could do.”
“I don’t think there’s one that is better than the others. They are doing, all of them are doing great results, one [Norris] has just won his first race, and George is almost always in front of a seven-time world champion, so I think they are all proving that they are all really good.”
“I would say probably those three names are at the same, like, level, I would not put Charles above them. I’m not trying to make him look like the others, I just feel like all three of them are really good. I’m not trying to say a bad thing about Charles, I’m actually trying to lift up Norris and Russell to the same level, because I think they are not less capable than him.”
Expanding on that topic, the Dale Coyne Racing driver mentioned that he believes all three of them, with the right backing, have the talent to become a World Champion.
“100% yes. We know that in F1 the car is making a huge difference, so it depends on that, but already if you think about it, if you look at the races now, the last few we had, as soon as one of those guys had the chance to have a decent car, he’s straight there fighting with the top drivers for the win.”
The Italian, who is also competing in the European Le Mans series with Inter Europol, forecasted a great step up in Norris’s younger teammate Oscar Piastri as well, who then went on to win his first race in Hungary later in the season.
“I mean just look at Norris, he won Miami and in Imola he almost did it again, so as soon as McLaren stepped up and closed the gap, he was right there and why not, I think even Piastri, I think he could be there.”
“I think he’s really young, so I would still put Norris above him because of the experience he already has. I really feel like now those three drivers, Leclerc, Norris and Russell, all three now have the speed which they already have from the beginning, but also the experience to really win a championship.”
However, drivers on their own can’t win a Formula 1 championship:“But as I said, it depends if the team is capable of giving them a quick enough car,” he concluded.
