Max Verstappen has performed beyond the expectations that emerged around him as soon as he landed in F1. However, the same cannot be said for the rest of the drivers of his generation who for one reason or another have a balance sheet in the red when comparing the hype around them with what they have performed on track.

Lando Norris is a world champion in the making, as are Charles Leclerc and George Russell, right? Why then do their teams shelter them in such a way, if they are not meant to be world champions?

The ugly trait that Norris, Leclerc and Russell share is that they are not world champions.

Are they talented? Sure, otherwise they wouldn't be where they are. But, if their teams give them the car, can they turn the possibility of a title into a certainty, fighting against the best at the moment? The answer is no, and particularly when the best at the moment is someone as relentless as Verstappen. For now at least, the trio of not-so-young drivers have a habit of making costly unforced errors.

Mercedes' Briton seems to suffer lapses of concentration in situations where the pressure is on him. Since Imola 2020 he has made serious mistakes in each of his F1 seasons, with the latest being his crash at the Australian Grand Prix where he blamed dirty air from Fernando Alonso's AMR24 for his gnarly accident, when messing with rivals' braking points, braking and mistimed acceleration have long been weapons in the drivers' arsenal. Norris, a friend of Russell's, made it clear that his British compatriot had been caught napping. Singapore and Canada 2023 also spring to mind.

McLaren's lead driver, Norris, is capable of driving great races, and on a single lap he can also display his great talent by surprising the stopwatch by putting his car in places it shouldn't be. He makes good overtakes, is brave when it comes to running wheel-to-wheel, and always wants to go for the races. Although it begs the question, in his sixth year in F1, why hasn't he won a race yet?

Grands Prix are living things, their own universes with different microcosms that shape them, some can be affected and controlled - to some extent - others cannot. And teams depend on their drivers, the key players charged with turning the best possibilities into reality, to bring such results home.

That the MCL38 is unwieldy may be true. It's also true that this didn't stop Oscar Piastri from taking the one in the Qatar 2023 Sprint race. Norris has so far found his ceiling on the second step of the podium, P2, which he equalled last Sunday in China. But that was not the best possible result for him. The truth is that victory has presented itself to the Briton, but he always eludes it, and this happens for a reason: Norris makes mistakes in qualifying or in the race that prevent him from climbing to that coveted P1.

Leclerc, very fast, yes, but also costly erratic. This year he has already made two unforced errors in the last two weekends. World Champion in the making? There are many doubts about that, the most painful and obvious one? The hiring of Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari.

The Monegasque is very emotional, he is temperamental, and instead of leading his team, he reprimands them. At the start in Shanghai he went for the kill against Sainz to cover him at the start, only causing both Ferraris to lose two places each. Was there more on the cards for the Scuderia? Clearly, if you have Schumacher's heir, why put a Hamilton alongside him? An accomplished title winner, lethal when victory is within reach - he has 103 of them - who puts in the laps and makes the overtakes when he has to. Hamilton makes mistakes? Yes, but he makes up for them and wins titles.

Promises unfulfilled, will they ever be realised?

While Norris, Russell and Leclerc see if they put their affairs in order - or not - Verstappen continues to reap trophies. His victory in China marks the 26th different circuit at which he has won, and of the 24 tracks on the current calendar, the Dutchman has won at 23 of them. Norris went so far as to declare this weekend that Verstappen's dominance is one reason why fans are deserting the sport, even though the figures actually report a rise in ratings and ticket sales. But what are Verstappen and Red Bull supposed to do, slow down or drop a gear?

For a long time Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren have been declaring their intentions to return to the top. They have been unable to deliver for just as long. Right now, their hopes rest on the rumours surrounding the RBPT-Ford Power Unit and its apparent lag with the rest of the engine suppliers being true. Because with Red Bull Racing 's Adrian Newey-led technical team, Helmut Marko's mentoring, Christian Horner's leadership, the 'Flying Dutchman's' weekly on-track prowess, and a competitive Power Unit, there's no reason to think Norris, Russell and Leclerc will ever deliver even after 2026. Perhaps if Verstappen retires after the 2028 season after all, the trio of not-so-young, unrealised promises will have a chance, but will they have the same value then?