Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has named four drivers that could challenge Max Verstappen for race victories and world titles in Formula 1, other than Lewis Hamilton.

The 2021 season will go down as one of the most epic in the history of the sport with Verstappen and Hamilton going head to head for the enitrety of the campaign, before the Dutchman emerged victoriously in the most now-infamous of circumstances in Abu Dhabi.

2022, then, has some act to follow in terms of drama but with new rules and regulations coming into force, and teams beginning to reveal the eagerly-awaited launch dates for their new cars, the coming campaign is starting to see a sense of anticipation and excitement grow around it.

Indeed, the new campaign is going to be helped by a stellar cast of drivers with Horner suggesting that there are four names in a similar age-bracket to Max Verstappen that could really offer the Dutchman a huge fight this year and in the ones ahead:

"Well, I think Formula 1 is in great shape at the moment because there are so many exciting young drivers," Horner told India's World Is One News.

"Max, of course, is only 24, but he's got a whole generation around him, like Charles Leclerc, George Russell in the Mercedes this year, you have Lando Norris that looks exciting, [there's] Carlos Sainz.

"There are many drivers, that are of a similar age, that are going to be there for the next 10 years or so.

"I think that's great for the sport, it's great for the competition and it's going to be exciting to see how it pans out."

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Undoubtedly, we have a crop of drivers in the sport in their early to mid-20s that look a fantastically talented bunch.

Then, throw in the combined 13 world championships of experience that Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso have as well as top drivers like Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas and 2022 has a potent mix for a potentially fantastic season.

Of course, it will take some going for 2022 to top 2021 for drama and controversy but if we can have two teams or even more fighting out at the front and new names competing for victory then we could be in for a real classic.

F1 is in a good place despite the contested ending in Abu Dhabi, and hopefully 2022 will be able to underline that fact in the coming weeks and months.