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Wasted Talents (28 posts)

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Kingshark said 2 years ago:

I don’t think this topic has been done before, but who are some F1 drivers with a lot of talent, but was wasted due wathever reason? Two names that pop to my head are:

1) Juan Pablo Montoya – Very wasted talent, and he’s got nobody to blame but himself.

2) Jarno Trulli – In his prime he could challenge Alonso as teammates, did a tremendous job with Toyota, but only 1 win?

What do you think are some talents which were wasted?

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DavidS said 2 years ago:

Jean Alesi – Managed to find himself in teams while they were in a slump. His time at Ferrari was fraught with mechanical failures. But he was fast and aggressive.

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Hare said 2 years ago:

Me… clearly :)

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Enigma said 2 years ago:

Francois Cevert – If he weren’t killed in 1973, he would very likely win at least one title.

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Ned Flanders said 2 years ago:

Kimi Raikkonen- he could quite easily have been a 3 or 4 time champion had both his car and his motivation not failed him so often

Incidentally, there was an article about this in F1 Racing a few years ago. I remember they included Montoya, John Surtees and Johnny Herbert, amongst others. As a 3 time race winner I’d argue Herbert got roughly the level of success his ability deserved

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jihelle said 2 years ago:

Elio de Angelis, Mika Salo, Jacky Ickx, Martin Brundle and may be Jean-Pierre Jarier who could be so fast the few times he had the right car.

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Slr said 2 years ago:

I remember the article on “Wasted talents” in F1 Racing magaine also included Jan Magnussen who was supposed to be the second coming of Ayrton Senna.

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Icthyes said 2 years ago:

Ayrton Senna. He would have been a brilliant businessman.

I also have to concur with Martin Brundle. And arguably, Mark Webber, he was in rubbish cars when he was young.

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OEL F1 said 2 years ago:

@Ned Flanders: You know Herbert crushed his foot in F3000 (was it)?

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GeeMac said 2 years ago:

Brundle and Jean Alesi are probably the two that most people will say here. One I always think of is Jan “the next Senna” Magnussen.

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Metrium said 2 years ago:

Surely need to put Gilles VIlleneuve in there as well

Alessandro Nannini deserves a mention

I think we all hope Robert Kubica won’t belong on this list in years to come, too

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GeeMac said 2 years ago:

And Mr Crashed and Byrned himself, Tommy Byrne.

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Fixy said 2 years ago:

Luca Badoer

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smifaye said 2 years ago:

Anthony Davidson and Tiff Needell

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GeeMac said 2 years ago:

Fixy is spot on. Hugely talented guy is old Luca, but he was wasted in Forti’s and Minardi’s. Ferrari’s dominance in the 2000′s is due in no small part to the thousands of miles he drove and the reliable and accurate feedback he gave in testing.

He’ll sadly be remembered as an F1 reject who drove a dog of a Ferrari for a couple of races.

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