After Charles Leclerc spent the second half of the season in 2018 wowing the paddock with his raw speed and tenacity for finding every extra tenth out of a lap, the Formula One world has really started to take note of the talent in the Formula Two series.

Whilst in recent years we have seen the meteoric rise of Max Verstappen in the Red Bull junior programme, not since Lewis Hamilton made his F1 debut in 2007 has there been so much buzz around the driver’s currently battling to make it to the ‘promised land’ of F1.

We have seen plenty of drivers in recent years make the breakthrough but Ocon, Bottas and Hulkenberg amongst others are yet to really stamp their authority as much as we saw from the aforementioned Hamilton. Is this due to a lack of speed? Possibly a lack of confidence in the car? Or is it just the fact that when you get a diamond such as a Hamilton or Leclerc come through the junior formula, the expectation can either make or break their career.

Lewis is somewhat of an anomaly in his appearance into F1, a driver built to perfection in the junior formulas, he would go straight into a top race seat at Mclaren in ’07 and start his career with a historic nine podium finishes in his first nine races (including his debut and second win in Canada and the USA)

He set the modern day benchmark for all young drivers to follow, and whilst we have seen some very fast driver’s move up from F2/GP2, it wasn’t until Max and Charles introduction that we saw a truly gifted driver placed into F1.

Of course Max and Charles both had one season (in Max’s case one season and four races) in somewhat of a placeholder position. So their full potential would not be immediately showcased, but the extent of pace to which they got out of the Toro Rosso and Sauber cars respectively would effectively make up the minds for their senior teams management.

That sets up this season nicely for this years F2 graduates to take the stage, they have seen the impact you can make if you impress in your opening season, and with one who potentially is seen as Lewis Hamilton’s successor. The pressure is going to be well and truly on for them.

Up first we have the ‘Golden’ boy at Mercedes, George Russell. If you aren’t aware of the skill and determination that George possesses, I urge you to watch back through the last two seasons of GP3 and F2 and watch him at work. He shows maturity well beyond his 20 years and has utilised his status in the Mercedes junior team perfectly to ensure that Mercedes management have to keep an eye on his progression up against the now current test driver Esteban Ocon.

Russell has been fast throughout his entire career so far, a former British F4 champion, European F3 runner-up and then consecutive GP3 and F2 champion in the last two years with the ART racing team. He has shown superb pace and equally brilliant race-craft to engineer himself a seat on the grid for 2019 at the famous Williams team.

His season much like the other graduates this season will see a huge dependency on the car giving him the speed in return that he possesses. Williams have struggled massively over the past few years, after their brief comeback to form in 2014 with Valtteri Bottas they have rapidly declined and for the 2019 season decided on a full driver change with Lance Stroll leaving for Racing Point and Sergey Sirotkin now a test driver in Formula E.

A likable but serious racer, George definitely has the speed and mannerisms that make a champion, but will he be able to showcase that if Williams struggle to once again provide a competitive car? Formula One can be a brutal sport and mistakes will be punished, the likelihood for Russell is that he will need a few stand-out results to maintain Mercedes appetite to get him into their car for the 2020/21 season.

Much was said of the potential of former Mercedes protege Pascal Wehrlein when he entered Formula One with Manor F1, but apart from a well received 10th place finish in Austria, he would struggle in the under-powered back-marker and fall off the radar of the senior team and subsequently out of F1 after another disappointing season with Sauber.

Russell cannot let the same happen if he gets put in the same scenario with a car at the back. We saw this season Charles Leclerc (albeit the Sauber improving over the span of the season) manage to drag time out of a car that many other would not be able to find. His lap in Q2 of the Brazilian GP in a rain affected session on dry tyres was outstanding, he managed to get into Q3 and see a P8 start become a P7 finish. Charles would see himself be the ‘best of the rest’ in four of the last six races up against faster cars in the Renault and Haas. Almost giving Ferrari no option but to replace popular and experienced Kimi Raikkonen with the new superstar that they had in their grasp.

This is the blueprint for George Russell, he needs to drag every thousandth of a second from the moment he rolls out the pit-lane in Melbourne on March 17th and show the world not only why Williams have put him into their famous car, but why he may be the man to replace one of the greatest racers of all-time in Lewis Hamilton in the near future.

Next up is the next in line at McLaren from their junior programme, Lando Norris. Much like his British counter-part George Russell, Lando is an incredibly driven and mature driver, but where others may keep a poker face to conceal emotion, Norris is a friendly and amicable driver both on and off the track who has made strides in the junior formula over the past few years.

Having signed with McLaren in 2017 to their development programme, Norris brings determination to show-case talent in almost an ‘Alonso-esq’ way. His career has already seen him drive in New Zealand, Italy and in full European series in what has been a superb way at gaining experience around the world.

Don’t be fooled by his relaxed persona off-track, once in the cockpit Lando has shown tremendous pace and grit to take the European F3 title in 2017 and be the runner-up in last seasons excellent F2 championship to compatriot George Russell. He spent the last season moonlighting as test driver for McLaren whilst competing in F2 and his conversations with Alonso and Vandoorne will have been invaluable (Let’s not forget that Stoffel Vandoorne was untouchable in GP2 in his last junior year)

To be able to watch and learn from one of the best drivers of the modern-era in Alonso, Norris will have gained some brilliant insight into how to get the best out of what you’re given as we saw Fernando do so often in his second stint with the Woking team.

McLaren need to decide on how they move forward with their junior programme, Lando Norris is the latest in a long line of junior driver’s that Mclaren have promoted to the race seat and not since Hamilton in 2007 have we seen them truly happy with their decision.

Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne were both part of the McLaren junior programme and although Stoffel would hold onto his seat for two seasons. It did feel as if they were waiting for Norris’ eventual promotion to replace to Belgian. Equally, now Nyck De Vries and Sergio Sette Camara are waiting in the wings at McLaren, Lando needs to make sure he is on pace and possibly even beating team-mate Carlos Sainz Jr if he is to maintain his seat for a number of years.

Much has been said of his potential in the years prior to the coming season and it is now time for Lando to step up and try to get McLaren back to the position that one all the all-time greatest manufactures should be. The talent is certainly there, but the real question will be if he can do it on the big stage when faced up against the ‘big-boys’.

Finally we have Alexander Albon, one I believe of the biggest success stories in motorsport in the last few years. Albon has heritage in racing with his father being a driver within several championships across GT racing and saloon cars in the Britain in the 90’s. A half British, half Thai national, Albon has seen success in his early career with a British Karting championship in 2010 and runners-up in 2011 & 2012.

These achievements saw him signed to the Red Bull junior programme, and with drivers such as Sebastian Vettel having been a huge part of the programmes success. It seemed like Alex would have an excellent opportunity to get to F1. However, this was short-lived for Albon and he would be released from his contract late in 2012.

A difficult period in Formula Renault was finally reprieved after he made his debut in GP3 in 2016. It was there that he would finish runner-up to Charles Leclerc for the title under the leading ART team and his promotion to F2 in 2017 saw a few positive results, but only two second place finishes would see him lose his drive with ART at the end of the season.

It was looking as Albon wouldn’t get a drive in 2018 but a last-minute deal saw him sign with the DAMS team and from there he would go on to have his best season in professional racing since his karting days.

Taking home four wins and four podiums across the season, the under-rated driver inserted himself into an unlikely championship challenge, and it wasn’t until the final race in Abu Dhabi that a disastrous feature race would see him lose that opportunity with George Russell taking the title and Albon slipping behind Lando Norris for second in the driver’s standings.

It seemed as that was it for Albon, he signed for Nissan.eDams in Formula E for this current season seemingly with no space in the top formula for him. There had been rumours of a possible Toro Rosso drive, but with nothing concrete, it seemed the time was up for Alex.

Fortunately with Pierre Gasly’s promotion and Dan Ticktum not yet owning the right points for a super-licence, nor the correct attitude it seemed according to Christian Horner. Albon would be announced as Toro Rosso driver for 2019.

It will be a fascinating season at Toro Rosso, the Honda power has been upgraded vastly since their return to F1, but is still showing a huge lack of reliability. In the business of F1 second chances are hard to come by and the man who seemingly owns all of them Daniil Kyvat will be partnering Albon. This is where Albon needs to consistently beat his team-mate, we have seen Red Bull are not afraid to mix up the drivers not only during off-season breaks but in-season as we saw with the Kyvvat and Verstappen switch in 2016, and even promising drivers have lost their seat in the attempt at finding the next superstar (ask Buemi, Hartley, and Vergne).

There is certainly the chance for Alex Albon to gather some positive results this season, and if he can show the speed that Pierre Gasly did last season in consistently beating Brendon Hartley, plus results such as the fourth in Bahrain and sixth in Hungary. There is no question that he should secure his seat for 2020.

For the first time ever, the top three of the junior formula have been promoted in the same season, it is an incredibly exciting time for British motorsport, there is no doubt that all three have the tools to excel in Formula One. George Russell looks the most ready for a run at getting a top seat in the championship in future seasons, but who’s to say that Albon or Norris won’t do something spectacular that gets us all talking.

The eyes will all be on Leclerc in pre-season testing so it will be a perfect opportunity for these guys to become comfortable with their new machines and ensure that British involvement in Formula One enters a ‘golden-age’. It seems the F1 community is starting to take notice of the noise being made by the F3 and F2 drivers and with good reason!

Mick Schumacher has recently signed to race for Ferrari’s junior programme and will test the car twice this season, Nyck De Vries could be the next Dutch superstar and drivers like Antoine Hubert, Callum Ilott and Nobuharu Matsushita are all well placed to start looking at being on the grid for 2020/21.

The pressure is on for Russell, Norris and Albon this season, but the ability and the skill is there. I wouldn’t bet against it for them to be lined up next to each other on the grid in Australia, which would make for a fascinating turn one wouldn’t it?