F1 Fanatic

There was a lot of discussion in the ‘Vettel records’ post about who will be the next to challenge him. Some said Perez, others Kobayashi but as we’ve seen over the years it doesn’t always work like that. Who would have expected in 2006 that Button, Webber, Hamilton and Vettel would be challenging Alonso for championships?

Despite some drivers having the most amazing starts to their careers they don’t always get the right breaks and are often spoke about as not fulfilling their true potential.

Jean Alesi – After doing insane things with a Tyrrell, Alesi was picked by many as a future champion. It’s insane to think he only ever won a single race. Choosing Ferrari over Williams was the wrong choice but he’ll always been seen as a legend because of it.

Ruben Barrichello – After his performance at Donnington ’93, Barrichello was set to be the next great Brazilian driver. Unfortunately when he got a top car he was Schumacher’s number 2.

Giancarlo Fisichella – He’d always be up the grid in a Jordan or Benetton in his early career. Everyone said he’d be a future champion but when he got his chance at Renault he wasn’t that great. He seemed to be brilliant in a poor car and average in a great car.

What other drivers can you think of that were labelled a ‘future champion’ but never fulfilled their potential?

- Juan Pablo Montoya probably should have world champion at some point.
- Felipe Massa’s twenty seconds as world champion may be the closest he gets to becoming a champion, though I would love to see him prove me wrong.
- David Coulthard possibly also should have been a champion after spending almost his entire career in competitive cars.
- Even though Nick Heidfeld hasn’t even won a race yet, his 2007 season made me see him as a serious future contender for the title.

@Ned Flanders

Magnussen smoked when he was an F1 driver! One of the stories of completely unfulfilled potential.

I’d also add Martin Brundle and Johnny Herbert to the list. Both drivers who underperformed.

Herbert was talked of in the same way as Schumacher/Senna was for a while until he had a horrific accident which smashed his feet. Given that Herbert still won a couple of races despite this shows he could have been a far greater driver.

How about Rene Arnoux? On his day he was totally unbeatable, a great qualifier and brilliant overtaker but perhaps a little bit too difficult personality wise to really gel with a team…

Verstappen was always spoke of very highly by Schumacher, and his wet weather skills were impressive, but he never recovered after that difficult first season with Benetton.

Perhaps the most obvious is Stirling Moss. A 4 times runner up- 3 times to Fangio (one of which only 3 points behind) and once to Hawthorn. Although statistics only tell a part of story, considering the number of retirements he had, with better reliability maybe he could have been a double champion. In 1958 in particular he lost to Hawthorn by a single point after testifying on his behalf.

In a topic on over-rated drivers a couple of months ago, many people named Moss without justification, seeming ignorant of his achievements. He is often credited as the best driver to never win a championship, and I don’t understand how this can be seen as unfair. He has the 10th highest percentage hit-rate of races won (2 of the drivers above him are Americans who only competed at Indy). No other non-champion has won as many races as him. He deserved to be a champion. It wasn’t his talent that held him back, rather the quality of his opposition (Fangio) and a lack of reliability.

Ivan Capelli – His second place in France 1990 in a Leyton House after leading most of the race until Prost passed him, together with his F3000 success in 1986, showed a lot of promise, sadly his move to Ferrari saw him lose motivation and retire.

- Juan Pablo Montoya probably should have world champion at some point.

In all honesty Montoya probably should have one a championship. If he’d waited long enough he might have been, Raikonnen and Alonso have been and I see him at the same level

Montoya had his chance in 2003, but he screwed it up in America. Still remember that drive through.

In all honesty Montoya probably should have one a championship. If he’d waited long enough he might have been, Raikonnen and Alonso have been and I see him at the same level

As it’s been pointed out, 2003 was his best chance, when the Williams was finally equal or faster than the Ferrari. But Ralf didn’t come close, and Juan did better, but couldn’t get past Barrichello without spinning him off. 2005 was worse, when Raikkonen convincingly beat him.