10 F1 drivers who wasted their big chance

Drivers work for years to get their big break with a top Formula 1 team, but some fail to capitalise on that opportunity when it comes. Edd Straw picks out 10 cases of drivers with genuine ability who couldn't make the most of what appeared to be career-making opportunities, whether it's because they weren't good enough, they came up against a superstar team-mate or other factors.
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[@Marceloloeite]

A Ferrari driver finding the team "unrecepting for his feedback". In other words, the sky is blue

[@Neersg09]

so true

[@saltmerchant749]

Ferrari's hubris is probably a bigger barrier to them achieving success than any engineering challenge.

[@stefansekulic7903]

It's a Ferrari. Niki Lauda - It's a shitbox.

[@MidnightAspec]

😂

[@aaronaaronsen3360]

@@saltmerchant749 As a Ferrari fan: yes

[@Marceloloeite]

You should do next "The greatest drivers who never got a chance at a good team"

[@Apratis]

Alonso in a 2014 Mercedes 😶

[@batot3617]

If Sergio wouldn't be signed for red bull,he could be on this list.

[@poketheporschefanboy]

@@Apratis no.

[@jan__itor]

Hulk would definitely be up there

[@616Themaster]

Olivier Panis would be in that list surely.

[@simoneburini4036]

Fun fact: "capelli" in Italian means "hair". Ivan is bald now.

[@hueyfreeman7810]

Lol

[@missalicesmiles]

Ironic :(

[@frguitar777]

Don’t get it

[@bigklamoty2137]

Yikes

[@matthiascerebri3315]

True, right! And since Nannini is the brother of Gianna Nannini, I wonder what HE sung after his accident

[@GoodwoodRR]

Hey, you leave our boy Jochen alone!

[@ivanylassirenas]

Thanks for this Goodwood, I f*cking love you

[@jraybay]

😮

[@TommoOnYoutube]

Excuse me what is Albono doing in this thumbnail. 😭

[@vulcanspecter6778]

Oh tommo

[@ethanv4783]

Albon didnt waste his redbull chance, redbull wasted albons chance

[@frguitar777]

@@ethanv4783 his mom stole a seat for him

[@thelammacus]

I think Red Bull honestly hired both Pierre and Alex too early (especially Alex). I would say that ultimately Alex didn't really have that selfish characteristic that great drivers have - which is why you and I loved him but also in part why he couldn't grab the chance by the balls

[@tippersimracing6070]

@@frguitar777 Red Bull have Thai investors, but they are Austrian hence why the race team races under the Austrian flag.

[@sparkshot289]

I don't think "wasted" is the right term for a couple of them.

[@awordon9631]

Albon 100% wasted his time. He pretty much was only good for 6th.

[@viktorisaksson7573]

@@awordon9631 i disagree. If he wasn't taken out by Hamilton we'd see a very different story

[@awordon9631]

@@viktorisaksson7573 that's one race. Sergio Perez and Gasly won races when they WERENT driving for Red Bull and Albon was nowhere

[@Anonymous-jq9rw]

@@awordon9631 he only have half season in that toro rosso

[@Anonymous-jq9rw]

@@awordon9631 I mean 2019 he was burgeoning and this is why gasly get demoted

[@Mchan0716]

Most of these drivers aren’t really bad,they just had magnificent teammates

[@tonycavez]

or bad cars , some teams can only provide one decent car

[@rlazaro044]

and some had really high expectations when that maybe shouldnt have been the case

[@5000rgb]

Yeah, I wouldn't really consider being overshadowed by the greatest drivers of all time (Hamilton and Schumacher), possibly the most talented (Senna), or the driver currently on the grid most likely to earn his spot amongst the all time greats (Verstappen) "wasting their big chance."

[@largol33t1]

Senna was curious about why Michael Andretti performed so poorly and talked his friend Emerson Fittipaldi into letting him test drive his IndyCar. He said Michael DID have the talent but just needed to compete in as many races as possible. The timing couldn't have been worse for Michael as this was when the FIA started imposing severe restrictions on practice time. One way this hurt him was Michael had trouble finding the McLaren's best braking points as it could literally stop in HALF the distance of his IndyCar! To further add salt to the wound, Nigel Mansell vacated the 92 title and won the IndyCar title, the first rookie to do so.

[@sohammhatre]

You mean Helmut Marko who destroyed the careers of Gasly and Albon by promoting them both way too early and not guiding the inexperienced drivers properly?

[@The_Wanderer_And_His_Shadow]

Well in 2007 Hamilton (a rookie) was also put in a winning car and lost the championship by 1 point...

[@NB-kh5jf]

@@The_Wanderer_And_His_Shadow yes but Lewis is on in a few generations driver, and I don't ev3n like him that much, expecting that others will do the same in one season is optimistic at best.

[@sohammhatre]

@@The_Wanderer_And_His_Shadow , who was mentored and supported by Ron Dennis like every young driver should be instead of putting pressure? You can't compare Ron Dennis to Helmut Marko. Lewis was Ron's golden boy Also it's Lewis Hamilton who was a prodigy so you can't really compare

[@danetz88]

Gasly and Albon were not good in comparison to Max, if you are bad at your job you get fired, same in F1, it's a business. Marko has a tremendous talent at finding young promising drivers, more than a quarter of the drivers in F1 today have been scouted by him.

[@rolef6084]

@@The_Wanderer_And_His_Shadow theyre looking for the next max or vettel from their academy, who both performed on the big stage immediately, thats why they expect their youngsters to do the same

[@barkslife]

Frentzen peaked in the wrong car. Probably the best driver on the grid in 1999 with that Jordan. Highly underrated.

[@drimacus91]

It's absolutely ridiculous how close he got to Hakkinen and Irvine, and looking at team mate Hill's results, he REALLY shouldn't have been there. To make it even more bizarre, had the Jordan been a tad more reliable, he would have been right up there in the title fight. Imagine that, with just Malaysia and Japan to go.

[@barkslife]

@@drimacus91 Yep. The Jordan also had a couple of failures while in the lead, too. I remember after Monza thinking, 'he could win this thing.'

[@terenceramroop]

So much hope for HHF. What a waste.

[@barkslife]

@@terenceramroop he's not alone.

[@racingbecky4155]

@@terenceramroop Waste, despite his failure at williams, Frentzen always placed mediocre cars in spots in the order they shouldn't have deserved

[@hexgraphica]

Many many many people in Italy associate their F1 memories with Capelli's commentary and voice. He's also been president of the Milan automobile club for a couple of years and he drove again his Leyton House in the Adelaide festival of speed

[@aaronanish7400]

why does it feel so long for the monaco gp

[@markcreed9745]

Wait for the race, That'll feel even longer .....

[@andrewtan881]

Probably because the last one was 2 years ago

[@rizzoli7]

@Ben Gibbons why

[@vinnie8792]

becus you will compare it to the tracktime that mazepin will have in the total weekend: about 5 mins

[@F1ll1nTh3Blanks]

@@rizzoli7 because of Saturday qualiy. The main event for Monaco is always Quaily.

[@arba71]

In Gasly's case, I think it's more of dodged the bullet rather than wasted the chance.

[@gigsawsoljier1408]

hardly. being dropped midway was what saved him that and no jnr's if rb didn't have a sister team he'd be drive less at that point. exspesh if tsunoda had been ready a year earlier.

[@KapitanPisoar1]

Dodge bullet by being kicked out form the 2nd best team on grid? :D

[@ae22ae11]

@@KapitanPisoar1 yes. He was basically bullied at Red Bull. They expected him to produce results as soon as he stepped in the car. Notice how Ricciardo has had a slow start to the season in the McLaren but they understand he has to get used to the car. Red Bull didn't care at all and it really affected Gasly's confidence.

[@KapitanPisoar1]

@@ae22ae11 Oh boi. These should be the fastest and toughest man on the planet, but instead they are bunch of kids who think that they are "bullied" because a team expects results from them.... Ricciardo is an average pilot in an average team, so nobody cares...

[@thesfdoctor3603]

Ricciardo is arguably better than Hamilton, average my ass

[@oscarshen6855]

Wasted big chance? I think for most of them there was never a chance. Most of them stepped into a one-man's teams, doomed to be a second driver with little to no support from the team.

[@DominantBlaze]

Yeah, for example Kovalainen was continuously sabotaged in qualifying by his team, when refueling was still a thing. They always fueled him up for a long stint, so he rarely got a chance to try for pole. His Silverstone pole was one of the only occasions he managed to negotiate a lighter car. It was almost ludicrous how Whitmarsh would often declare Kovalainen would've been on pole, if you account for the fuel load. On top of that, he had some amazing bad luck and team mistakes/car issues that cost him points and even race wins. Not saying he didn't make mistakes himself, he did, but if he had equal chances as Hamilton, he would've gotten a lot more points in the end.

[@Durbanite2010]

Some of these drivers got less than a season in the car and had little to no testing time, so it's a bit unfair to say they "wasted their big chance". Gasly has proven to be a good driver for Alpha Tauri, with his race win last year. Frentzen showed what he was capable of in that 1999 Jordan. Andretti and Daly likely just needed more time.

[@AdrianFClarke]

Andretti didn't want to leave the US and commuted to European races on Concorde. He also didn't take his fitness seriously at a time when F1 drivers were starting to take it very seriously indeed. He didn't really put in the effort to test and kind of just showed up expecting to be hot shit and was found out in very short order....

[@OrangePukeko]

I agree that " missed their big chance" may have been the better wording. Wasting a chance implies that the fault is on the driver, missed can be external circumstances as well. That being said in not yet convinced that Gasly would have been significantly better than Checo in an alternate 2021 season, let alone go for the WDC himself.

[@mike04574]

why keep a driver for longer if they can't do it after 1-2 seasons, its explainable and understandable

[@mike04574]

gasly is winning cuz the car suits him while red bull suits max

[@jordza2k11]

Dumfries isn’t a fair one, he wasn’t actually given a fair shake as he only got the role because Senna didn’t want a competitive teammate in Derek Warwick

[@allthekingshorses7178]

Plus he only got the Lotus drive practically at the last minute and thus had little time to get used to the car.

[@jamesallen4050]

RIP Johnny Dumfries :(

[@postilaatikko7384]

About JJ Lehto: you forgot to mention that Lehto wasn't even near recovered from the neck injury, he had pain and couldn't move his head in a car that back then had no support for the neck. Briatore put him to the track while he was still injured and kicked him from the team, although his results were'nt bad when thinking about his condition. That kind of stuff would not happen today. Lehto went on to win both Le Mans Series championship and Le Mans 24h race and also racing in CART. I doubt Verstappen won anything. Lehto didn't miss his chance, Briatore missed Lehto. He was an elite driver. In fact all of the Finns in the 90s, Hakkinen, Lehto and Salo were elite drivers, Hakkinen being the only one to get a chance to drive full seasons in a competetive car (2 championships).

[@Balnazzardi]

Agreed, its a shame that crash happened in pre-season testing, without that I think Lehto would have achieved much more in F1. Perhaps not a championship, but I think he could have been great team-mate to Schumacher. Also had Briatore given him more time to recover, I think it would have been wise if JJ had not returned to F1 until 1995 or to the last races in 1994 earliest.

[@christianvaser-scholer2469]

Yeah, but Lethos performance in Monaco and Canada was too less to be a help for the team in the championship. Even with Dallara and Sauber in the previous years he didn't made that much impression

[@MalakhiW]

a lot of these drivers aren't even bad they just had really good teammates

[@ianhowlett4682]

11:51 What a great photo of Senna with Häkkinen, and Prost there too for good measure. Three legends.

[@winfield347]

Hakkinen?really

[@samiraperi467]

I seem to recall JJ's chassis having had a crack that took weeks to find. Not that Benetton has admitted it publicly.

[@helixworld]

@@fiarandompenaltygeneratorm5044 You probably mean "Flavio could Not have cared less"..

[@mattipuh]

JJ drove amazing results with McLaren F1 in Le Mans, would be nice to mention those in addition to his too short F1 visit. Was hands down fastest driver in the fleet on wet & dark.

[@OsellaSquadraCorse]

That and his whole BMW and Audi stint. Until the unfortunate boat crash/death/arrest issues he was still highly in demand, even though officially 'retired'. But in addition to '95 he won Le Mans twice and put the '99 BMW so far out in the lead it was on course to win easily until the suspension failure that caused retirement - not to mention rightfully winning the 1999 ALMS championship.

[@MasterofSpiders]

JJ Letho wasn't really fit to return at San Marino. He rushed back because he was worried about being permanently replaced, either by Verstappen or someone else. He was still wearing a neck brace until Spain or Canada and later admitted that he wasn't fully recovered until 1995.

[@pitergriffin01]

capellli may have wasted his chance in f1, but in italy we love him as a commentator, so things turned to be ok for him eventually

[@evilmario6061]

La cosa piu importante 👌

[@chamindujanith6337]

I wish Modena got the Ferrari seat in 1992 instead of Capelli. BIG MISTAKE. Modena had a fantastic 1991 season with Tyrell too.

[@big203jay]

I honestly think Albon and Gasly don't deserve to be mentioned here. Redbull has some crazy fuckery going on within the team and Helmut doesn't help it at all.

[@themilkguzzler2467]

Albon was getting knocked out of Q2 and fighting cars for lower points positions whilst his teammate was out competing for race wins. He wasted his chance and then some. And Perez has already disproved your theory anyway.

[@ar17hd]

@@themilkguzzler2467 ur comparing a 10 year season vet to a guy in his second season and the fact 2020 car was so unstable and the 2021 car was a title contender more balanced would have suitted him more and tbh checo didn knock anybody socks of either he rather underpreformed that car

[@themilkguzzler2467]

@@ar17hd Tbf I wrote this before Checo’s dip in performance after France. However, I think Abu Dhabi was the perfect evidence as to why Perez was a better pick - there’s no way that Albon would have got himself into that position where he was able to be a factor.

[@ar17hd]

@@themilkguzzler2467 i would expect nothing else from checo he's been in the sport much longer it just ain't a comparison and the fact it took him a whole season to get used to that car shows a lot

[@themilkguzzler2467]

@@ar17hd I don't think you can just chuck the 'Experience' argument at it every time. Leclerc and Verstappen won races in their second seasons, Hamilton won a title in his second season. Sometimes ability is just ability.

[@PyroBun_2844]

Hekki after his McLaren career: not stonks.

[@TruePurpleHaze]

At least he didn't give up and won the Super GT.

[@sking2173]

Poor ole Heinkki ...

[@luscorpio3679]

Renault was so high on him too, they truly saw him as a successor to Alonso

[@gigsawsoljier1408]

barely did much at renault tbh. how he got two big teams i'll never know.

[@luscorpio3679]

@@gigsawsoljier1408 Well he was the Renault pet-project for the after Alonso and when Alonso decided to leave McLaren Heikki went there as part of the deal

[@attiladezso8508]

It's incredible looking back at the start of the 2007 F1 season: Kovalainen was a highly ranked super rookie, almost at the same level with Hamilton. He was in charge for the 2005 GP2 title against Rosberg - I'm sad he couldn't keep up with Lewis.

[@Balnazzardi]

Yea, unfortunately for Heikki, his career in F1 would have propably lasted longer/been better if he had stayed in Renault and Alonso had stayed at Mclaren. He just wasnt ready to be team-mate to someone like Lewis and got destroyed pretty much the same way Albon and Gasly did when put next Verstappen. I doubt Heikki in the end would have been ever good enough to win a championship but his career in F1 would have certainly lasted longer without the Alonso-Mclaren breakup.

[@klepetar]

here's a tidbit who was the first teammate gilles villeneuve had on his first race in formula 1? Jochen mass who was the driver of the car gilles hit the day he had his fatal accident? Jochen Mass !!

[@tugatomskanimation6370]

Damn!... No wonder he left F1 a couple of months after the tragedy and right after his terrifying clash with Mauro Baldi at Paul Ricard.

[@Marceloloeite]

I'm not German but still felt so weird everytime he said "JoKen" Mass

[@Rypsolisti]

@@Marceloloeite Me too! It's JohHen

[@aydankhaliq2967]

Coincidence? I think not!

[@gurrrn1102]

Mass is one of the unluckiest drivers in f1 history, in the sense of being witness to some of its greatest tragedies

[@elaldo2382]

My first thought was Alex Zanardi at Williams in 1999 as he was outscored 36-0 by Ralf Schumacher. The Williams was not a great car but if the 1992 Ferrari counts then maybe?

[@f1matt]

Bravo The Race. You managed to squeeze in both the FW19 and a derivative of the Jordan 191. Bravo.

[@FCB001]

I would add Giancarlo Fisichella - Renault 2005-07, Alex Zanardi - Williams 1999.

[@thesfdoctor3603]

To be fair, Fisichella did his job, winning the Constructor Championship (and crashing Michael in the last race of the season)

[@FCB001]

@@thesfdoctor3603 as a Ferrari Fan i don't think Fisichella did that an purpose. It was unlucky for the Michael, but still a racing incident. And you could add to this that Fisichella also got beaten by a rookie Kovalainen in 2007.

[@brenanconroy4052]

Zanardi is probably more of a right entry than Michael Andretti if you only had to pick 1. Andretti at least scored points/made it on the podium. Zanardi was a twice in a row CART champion that couldn't break 7th in a car that his teammate podiumed with 3 times, and retired 10 times compared to 4 times. When you're needing to pull out the steel brakes in the late 90s... thats bad

[@sylvianblade75]

I would put Montoya 2005 rather than Fisichella. Mclaren had arguably a better car than Renault. But Montoya didn’t live up to his expectations that season.

[@nobody-wk6ej]

Ehhhhh... Some of them didn't really waste it though... Sometimes things don't work out, no matter how hard you try.

[@tomastoth4018]

I would also mention ALESSANDRO ZANARDI, racing Williams in 1999. His teammate Ralf Schumacher scored 35 points during the season, with best finish as 2nd at Italian GP, while Zanardi scored nothing. What a shame that even Arrows driver Pedro de la Rosa managed to take a single point in Australia or Marc Gene at Nurburgring for Mindardi!

[@RogerioCampanhol]

Suggestion for a video: F1 drivers who have a son driving for F1 as well. I.E. Verstappen, Rosberg, Piquet, Schumacher...

[@KingofWolves3277]

Winkelhock, Hill.....

[@Halarue]

Villeneuve

[@jeremypnet]

Palmer

[@miglia_morale]

Magnussen

[@sm70911]

Albon and Gasly eating popcorn Gasly "forget Duo's, we gonna be a threesome next year" Albon "At least we'll have Tacos"

[@orangesnipzy7488]

And the year after, sushi

[@SuperSports13]

Perez already doing way better than albon, hes going to improve his results in a big way

[@UltraDXSASC]

@@SuperSports13 Everybody hopes so...

[@gremmie666]

@@SuperSports13 may be or he will get dropped and Albon gets the seat back

[@SuperSports13]

@@gremmie666 unlikely, but its f1

[@markfischer1778]

This is a little off-topic, but I live about an hour away from Bethlehem, PA. Michael Andretti’s hometown. The Andrettis are legends in the Lehigh Valley.

[@davidorama6690]

Deservedly so.

[@BOABModels]

The title is a bit click- baity - so many of these drivers were hired as out and out number 2 drivers and up against World Champions. Frentzen did get another shot at Jordan of course. According to Johnny Herbert, Briatore ensured that Schumacher's teammates were very much an afterthought with the focus on their number 1.

[@jamesdyer7960]

You're pretty much spot on. Trouble is a lot of teams try and disguise or out abd out deny it to ensure their golden boy always smells of roses! That's why the no.2's get put back in their box if they threaten the no.1 once or twice! It"s happened loads of times at Benetton/Renault, Mclaren, Merc, Ferrari etc

[@ivaylodimitrov4901]

Gasli and Albon cannot be said to have wasted their chances. It was the other way around.

[@caesar485]

They were in race winning cars and could only put it on the podium once. Hell yes they wasted their chance.

[@caesar485]

@IL Lupo he is still a red bull driver, you do realise that right?

[@luuduonghy659]

@@caesar485They had their chance but fail to use it Especially Albon in 2020 where he fail to out-qualify Max once in the season.

[@thrillathakilla]

David Walker, 1972 For Lotus. The car had won championships already and did that year at the hands of Emerson Fittipaldi. He didn't even score a point. Sticking With Lotus. Trevor Taylor in 1963. Highest finish of 6th. His Team mate, Jim Clark, finished all but one race on the podium and swooped the championship

[@JPMongeS]

9:45 I almost broke my monitor trying to take that hair off the screen! 😅 😂

[@alanhillyard1639]

Where’s the hair?

[@enguis.m]

@@alanhillyard1639 on the forehead of the guy on the left

[@31415926535ism]

Andrea never got to test a single mile in the mp4. Thrown in at the deep end, super quick in F3 and for Ron in f2, wild but quick. Go kart world champion in 76.

[@luscorpio3679]

Didn't help, but he continued to crash a lot during his career after McLaren

[@thomaskurz5617]

Think you missed out Gerhard Berger. Driving from 1990-92 in the fastest car in F1, and still managing never to be better then 4th in the championship. Sure he was paired with Ayrton Senna, but many at that time thought he had similar level of talent. So being 2nd in the championships should have been the minimum to be expected from him. That he could drive he showed as an example at the Canadian GP 1990. While starting from 2nd, overtaking Senna, and then getting hit with a 1 Minute time penalty for a jumpstart, he managed to finish only 14 seconds behind the winner Senna. So over the race he was 45 seconds faster then Senna. The rest of his career was lined with some bad decision in choosing a team. Going back to Ferrari in 92, and then taking over the Benetton cockpit after Michael Schuhmacher went to Ferrari.

[@sarin82]

6:55 In Jos' defense, he was a rookie that suddenly had to compete with team favorite Michael Schumacher. Schumacher got all the team's support and best resources, while the 2nd driver was only...... well, 2nd driver. None of Michael's teammates at Benetton got the same support and material that he got and after Benetton dropped Verstappen; he never got a fair shot at a front running team. He tried to compensate for that by trying to outperform his material, resulting in many retirements but on several occasions he showed his qualities by even outperforming faster cars (e.g. Malaysia 2001). The fact that he knows his stuff about F1 racing can drawn from how he passed on his skills and knowledge to his son Max, the fact that he is able to challenge Lewis Hamilton for the championship speaks for itself.

[@Cynderfan35]

Jos took all that knowledge also about possible mistakes he did during his career, making sure none of them happened to Max, preparing him for the hard way F1 can be. It might been rather harsh training BUT looking at how fast Max became and beating someone like Hamilton, showed the hard work payed off. Jos should have been given 2nd opportunity in a top team if ask from me.

[@AndreiTupolev]

Be fair though, anyone who's dropped into the position of Hamilton's teammate (or Senna's) is, well, going to be a bit overshadowed (unless you're Alain Prost)

[@wadud92]

Or Alonso, Button or Rosberg. Basically be a WDC

[@MrZebeda]

Red Bull: bin every driver that does not match Verstappen within a couple of races. The Race: drivers that "wasted" their opportunities.

[@uweclaunitzer7170]

So true. Except for 2021 Redbull weren't able to deliver a car that matched their own expectations on the drivers.

[@wabba67]

JJ Lehto wasn't fit to return in Imola. He has retrospectively said that he probably should've taken the whole '94 season off to fully recover from his injuries.

[@likilikiki]

The truely great drivers shine no matter what car they're in.

[@ragnarwiik2054]

This is true.

[@jordancollins637]

The only drivers i can thin of are Jean Alesi and Jim clark but their are probably more

[@aydankhaliq2967]

@@jordancollins637 well, what about... Wait let me think..... Gerhard Berger and Nelson piquet?

[@aydankhaliq2967]

@@jordancollins637 oh and Alonso?

[@tortyreus2384]

@@aydankhaliq2967 Alonso has less points than fkn Ocon currently LMAO. Maybe this will change, it has only been 4 races after all, but rn all he's proving is how washed up he is.

[@griffisjm]

Gasly and albon didn't waste a chance, both were left hanging by Red Bull. I'm convinced you could put lewis in that seat and he'd struggle. Look at perez, he's struggling, shoot even riccardo had trouble.

[@empress_alex]

Your comment on Perez has aged well... He has managed to achieve what Albon and Gasly couldn't in only his 5th race for the team. What do you mean Danny Ric struggled? He won 8 races with the team and earned countless podiums. I wouldn't call that "struggling".

[@griffisjm]

@@empress_alexDaniel Riccardo made it clear that his mental health was more important than winning races or a world championship which is why he decided to leave Red Bull, he wasn't happy. From what was seen and has been said about Pierre he struggled with the exact same thing, which is further shown by his character and success at alpha tauri. Albon was visibly shook all year last year. If it were one driver then yeah they may be the problem, but all three, No. I firmly believe that Red Bull is set up to benefit Max, and Max alone. This was obvious when Horner said to Netflix they were pushing to make MAX the youngest world champion, even though Riccardo was with him in the standings at that point. I do not dislike Red Bull or Max Verstappen. I sincerely hope Perez continues his success. It is my belief(and a widely held one at that) that Red Bull is a one driver team built around Verstappen. Perez's Job is not to win a WCT but to be a buffer between Max and the Mercs when needed, everyone knows that. EVERYONE KNOWS the car is built around Max and suits his driving style and it seems that the team is built the same way. That's completely fine, that's their prerogative, I just think knowing that, is strong evidence of why Albon and Gasly struggled. Personally I think it was not the right move to put Albon there, I don't think he's good enough to start with, and I think Gasly given time could have figured it out. You cannot build a Car and Team around 1 driver and 1 driver alone and then be surprised when the others struggle, and struggle they did.

[@Ruylopez778]

Ironic that Head didn't like Frentzen, given that it was Frank Williams and Head making the decision to drop Hill without consulting Newey that was the last straw for Newey

[@coffeeguyd]

Michael's story still hurts almost 20 years later 😔 Edit: Meant to type 30 years... damn.

[@leftboot83]

Nearly 30 years later you mean

[@coffeeguyd]

@@leftboot83 oops yeah, good catch!

[@bradkroboth5490]

If he had a chance to learn the car and tracks like many of the other drivers, in sure it would have been different

[@thecodex0994]

If Andretti had gone to a smaller team in 93 and did a season and then moved to McLaren i think he would of had more of a chance to learn the tracks and car, the change in rules on testing and the banning of active suspension really hurt his chances at success

[@baliktad8]

Andretti had limited testing because he was traveling between the US and Europe. He wasn’t staying in Europe for extended periods of time because his kids were small. Not because of the rules.

[@itsdanburton4040]

Gonna be honest I only watch the videos voiced by Edd If he made ASMR I'd listen to it

[@ShineStreet]

the way he pronounces the word "debut" is so captivating wtf

[@616Themaster]

Bit unfair on Dumfries. He mentioned on the beyond the grid podcast that he was very much no 2 and didn't get the same spec as Senna half the time.

[@coffeeguyd]

Yeah that's something that gets sorely underreported in F1, the fact that in so many cases the number 1 and 2 cars are not identical, which often leads to the belief that the second driver is just worse overall. I thought even Horner mentioned that about Albon's car at one point.

[@freakglitcha8390]

Honestly I think the same applies to the 1994 Benetton boys. Lehto, Verstappen (a rookie) nor the reliable Johnny Herbert could get much out of the 2nd car, whilst Schumacher couldn't stop winning in his. Verstappen claims Michael's car had a host of illegal driver aids, and given the FIA found some of them (fuel flow and launch start), it might not be too far from the truth...

[@joaomantovani9527]

on his only win, kovalainen's engineer said "this is the first of many"

[@OsellaSquadraCorse]

Which was ridiculous at the time, as he only inherited it when Massa's engine blew a couple of laps from the end.

[@TenorCantusFirmus]

Giancarlo Fisichella with World Championship-winning Renaults in 2005 and '06.

[@DanielEscobar-en4cc]

gasly spent 2 years driving in toro rosso, so he had much more experience than albon in the red bull environment.

[@luscorpio3679]

Only one full season for Gasly, in his first season, it was late replacements for Daniil Kvyat coupled with a Super Formula stint.

[@Adithya13303]

Gasly's time at Red Bull was worse than Albon's. I believe Red Bull would be better off giving Kvyat a second chance at the big team instead of taking Albon in his rookie season.

[@bradennetzly8291]

I actually met Derek Daly at Indianapolis last October. Cool to see him working with his son in IndyCar. We spoke for about 5 minutes

[@SiVlog1989]

I would include the only driver to truly win their first Grand Prix, Giancarlo Baghetti. By winning first time out in France, 1961, in a privately run Ferrari, he seemed an obvious pick for the works outfit. However, he only started 4 races with the Scuderia in 1962 and had a best finish of 4th and was classified 11th in the standings. By the following year, with disgruntled Ferrari employees and 1961 World Champion Phil Hill, Baghetti faded onto obscurity by joining the Automobili Tourismo e Sport (ATS) team in 1963 with his F1 career lasting until 1967, when he made a one off appearance in his home Grand Prix with Lotus, but retired 18 laps from the end with an engine failure

[@0livend0se]

Never been so early for a video from the race 🥺

[@Sneekskier]

Same

[@0livend0se]

Well. Lets see, what they are up to, got just a few names in mind. Curious what they have found 🤌🏼

[@m93sek]

No one cares

[@hisham_hm]

congratulations, 0livend0se

[@Haltzo]

You missed out on Stoffel Vandoorne. Being 2nd driver to Alonso in a Mclaren with a GP2 engine. He could never really show his talent after completely destroying his rivals in GP2

[@luscorpio3679]

Giving the state of McLaren at the time, Vandoorne's stint doesn't really qualify as someone who didn't capitalize on an opportunity with a big team, but it's true that him being compared all the time to Alonso pretty much killed his reputation

[@user-vl7xw8tb8z]

Yeah I never thought that was fair to him. He never really had a chance. I think he’s in formula E now right? Kind of disappointing for him

[@gigsawsoljier1408]

mclaren wasn't a big team tho if you notice all 10 were race winning cars. or perez in 2013 would be on the list

[@AntiVaganza]

@@gigsawsoljier1408 Yeah, Checo, Kmag and Stoffel could have been a combined listing but as you say, the car wasn't really that good.

[@gigsawsoljier1408]

@@AntiVaganza they didn't waste either. They were teamed with champs

[@Mishima505]

Johnny Dumfries was "number two in a team where even the Portaloo was set up for Senna" to quote the late Clive James.

[@zetto156]

10 drivers who wasted their big chance: literally the first frame is Pierre Gasly Me as a Gasly fan: oof

[@shawnmatthews75]

Gasly won in Imola. He’s the hot girl everyone’s waiting to ask out. He was on podium in Baku. He’s going to get another chance

[@RepublicOfBridger]

Guy has blossomed into one of f1's most exciting talents, racing really well in a pretty meh vehicle. Not a bad choice to be a fan of.

[@luuduonghy659]

@@shawnmatthews75Monza 2020, not Imola.

[@RobTheGreenEngine]

Should we blame De Cesaris? Or blame the car he drove? Or should we blame the sponsors who got him there? Ron Dennis: No. BLAME ITALY!

[@patdrowsy1824]

Surprised to see you here Mr Henry fan

[@RogerioCampanhol]

I thought I would see Nelson Piquet Jr. among those.

[@jeffdriscoll6096]

Great feature!

[@davidgretlein9384]

Good collection of info! WRT US drivers being successful in F1 as a driver, they really needed to run the Euro feeder series in Europe to be successful in F1. It is different. I applaud Michael Andretti for being realistic and returning back to the US. Just look at his success now as a driver and team owner.

[@joshgee8714]

No it's just that they drive big Heavy boats as daily drivers and that they call "race circuit" a lazy cornered mess... Americans are good at some things driving isn't one

[@davidgretlein9384]

@@joshgee8714 F1 can’t even be a proper tire (tyre) to Indy, and over half the grid chickened out - what an embarrassing race that was for F1.

[@sreenathr679]

Can you do a Aston martin video like the recent Alpine one

[@mirzamunif]

I think with Red Bull they definitely are the problem. Like you see Gasly now and he is such a better driver than what he was. A second team needs to exist to develop driver but you can't pull them out and put them under pressure when they are not ready

[@tamas1946]

Completely agree. I really feel for Albon, I just feel his fate would've been different if he got that podium in Brazil (when Ham hit him) and potentially the win in Austria (when again Ham hit him).

[@olliebeck2952]

I wouldn't say Frentzen wasted anything. Just the wrong team and driver combination. Jordan were able to nurture his talent correctly rather than constant bollockings from Patrick Head. HHF is a legend.

[@SilverfoxThe]

I'd have liked to have seen more of Johnny Dumfries and Michael Andretti. The commentary is right in that they were both definite #2's to the brilliance of Senna. Like nearly all of these nominees, had they had more engineer time and a better set-up there's little doubt they'd have done better.

[@avinashanish3350]

What the hell is up with Albon's face in the thumbnail, he looks like he aged 20 more years.

[@orangesnipzy7488]

Stress ages ya

[@flyingphoenix113]

They just raced him too hard. 🥺

[@futumukafulangenge9863]

He just realised these are not toys any more.

[@VLG105]

Kovalainen was a genuinely lovely guy, much liked by his mechanics etc. Maybe his downfall was being too nice.

[@Duval-In-The-Wall]

His downfall was also signing for Lotus in 2010, he could have easily had a good career in the midfield

[@timy0218]

Maybe Coulthard in 1998-2000. After he did very well in 1996 and 97 against Hakkinen but however in 1998-2000 where McLaren could easily fight for the titel he stood very much in the shadow of Hakkinen. I would claim a combination of beeing unlucky with reliability and not quite reaching the constancy in terms of race craft like Hakkinen did

[@oskierox]

I'm glad Rubens wasn't on this list, as it is clear neither team (Ferrari or Brawn) wanted him to fight for the championship.

[@davidaddley4932]

That moment your at work and the video is 8seconds old so has no subtitles yet...

[@uclamnguyen1459]

Albon didn't waste his chance, Redbull let him go

[@CarlosDiaz-qb4jj]

Because he was terrible

[@archibaldchimpin]

@@CarlosDiaz-qb4jj he was better than you

[@CarlosDiaz-qb4jj]

@@archibaldchimpin That's quite obvious, I'm not a racing driver

[@AntiVaganza]

@@CarlosDiaz-qb4jj He had raw speed and natural talent on the track. E.g. he was taken out of two podiums by Hamilton and pulled off some of the most aggressive, stunning overtakes in many races. I personally think he was somehow too soft for the RB environment and probably ended up doubting himself which ultimately cost him performance. But hey, this is SoMe, so from the comfort of your couch, you're allowed to ignorantly call Albon for terrible. Hope at least you felt a slight whiff of superiority while doing that.

[@CarlosDiaz-qb4jj]

@@AntiVaganza It is not that difficult for a Red Bull driver to make stunning overtakes on Alfa Romeos and Alpha Tauris. Just face it, he was terrible in 2020, not good enough, and Red Bull had every reason to replace him.

[@AttitudeCharter]

What about Frentzen in the all-conquering Williams in 1997? He won 1 race compared to Villenueve's 7 and the title.

[@Simarino54]

There's been a video concept stuck in my head for quite a while (of which I don't know whether such a video was made): 10 wasted championship (drivers' or constructors', or even both) opportunities. A perfect example would be 2008 when BMW Sauber, after securing a 1-2 in Canada, completely dropped the development of their 2008 car in favor of the 2009 regulations (and we all know how that turned out 😠), effectively putting Kubica out of championship contention in China.

[@HaraiGoshi345]

Heikki Kovalainen looks like a combination between Kimi Raikkonen and Valterri Bottas

[@aniruddhabudihal8920]

what about Danil kvyat ?

[@luscorpio3679]

Actually, he outscored Ricciardo in 2015, his demotion was pretty harsh, though it has been triggered by a couple of ugly on-track encounters (the couple with Vettel in particular), a poor start to 2016 and Red Bull's willingness to promote Verstappen ASAP. Half of it is his fault and half of it is bad timing

[@redbullsauberpetronas]

He didn't do anything wrong, they just wanted Max instead

[@FCB001]

Kvyat was actually doing a decent job at Red Bull, outscored Ricciardo in 2015 and had already scored a podium in 2016, whilst Ricciardo had not. The demotion was only because Helmut Marko needed a reason to promote Verstappen...

[@Eric0816]

What most people forget is hat Williams had given up on Hill at the end of 95 so they signed Frentzen for 97 already at the start of 96. At that time it seemed to make sense because driving a Sauber Frentzen looked like a future world champion. Even today in a vacuum I would consider Frentzen to be a more talented driver than Hill who entered F1 in his 30s driving motorcycles before. When they were teammates at Jordan Frentzen was clearly superior. I would say that Hill was a better driver for Williams because of his professionalism and willingness to listen given his lack of racing experience. Frentzen was a better driver for a small team like Jordan (or Sauber) because his pure talent could get more out of a slower car.

[@digigarb]

Great trip down memory lane!

[@nickwall2497]

Think Alex Zinardi should be in this list. He never really made a real go of it in F1

[@Siniset]

Williams wasn't really a top team in 1999 and all the previous efforts were for smaller teams.

[@nickwall2497]

In 1999 Ralf Schumacher had 10 points finishes scoring 35 points and all of Williams points, this included 3 podiums. Alex best finish was 7th and zero points in total. He should definitely be on this list

[@FCB001]

@@Siniset yes they were a midfield team in 99. But compared to his teammate Ralf Schumacher Zanardi still had a terrible season. Ralf scored three podiums and most likely would have won on the Nurburgring if he didn't get a puncture, whilst Zanardi didn't score a single point.

[@corbinselanne7990]

J. Verstappen's 1994 season also included the fireball incident during a pit stop in the German GP, while Eddie Irvine would spend four years as Michael's teammate in the German 7-time champion's first four years with Ferrari (and missing out on the 1999 title himself following Michael's broken leg in Silverstone thanks largely to the efforts of Marc Gene in the European GP)

[@billx1706]

You missed some indeed Hector Rebaque Brahbam 1980-1981 David Walker Lotus 1972 Eddie Chever Renault 1983 Luca Badoer Ferrari 2 races 2009 Marc Gene & Antonio Pizzonia Williams 2003-2005 Lance Stroll Aston Martin 2023-present Roberto Moreno Benetton 1991 Jackie Oliver lotus 1968

[@inkjazz]

I don't really understand how Gasly/Albon "wasted" their opportunities. They were never going to beat or even match Max, didn't get the support they needed (at least emotionally), and we're definitely trying hard. It hurts to see the start of this same machine now with Perez. It takes awhile to get used to cars. Look at how much Ricciardo is struggling at the start with McLaren. He did finally beat Lando last race, but it wasn't an instant thing. I do believe Perez will get better with the car, I just hope he has the chance before all the Max worshippers start calling for his head.

[@anameyoucantremember]

I come from the future. Max worshippers adore Checo now :)

[@D5Pasadena]

Edd is in heaven. Obscure drivers from the past. We appreciate your phenomenal memory, Edd!

[@MENQN]

Pascal Wehrlein did everything right in his two seasons scored both teams only points results in the worst car packages possible and got dropped for a thanks.

[@19megamustaine85]

Sauber were always assholes same happened with Nazr in 2016 outscored his teammate, but Sauber keept Ericsson.

[@selder_7]

4:55 it’s weird seeing Petronas and Red Bull on the same car now

[@lawless8723]

I can't wait for redbull to swallow their pride and admit they they got it wrong when it comes to the second car and the overall approach on how it is setup

[@MrBlazemaster525]

LOL you think Christina will do that? There's a better chance Ferrari shape up before that happens

[@lawless8723]

@@MrBlazemaster525 I can hope lmao

[@brunoalves5339]

Well, first all the journalists (including all the people from this channel) and fans who said that Perez would do way better than Gasly and Albon need to do that first.

[@shitposts3375]

@@brunoalves5339 checking up on this thread after checo won baku. how is the copium fellas

[@brunoalves5339]

@@shitposts3375 get a life

[@Lakshay70]

TF did you do with alex's lips in thumbnail

[@fasthracing]

Remember being at Silverstone and seeing Andretti not even making it round the first corner.

[@frush.]

What a man! Give these dudes some fame again!

[@itube8352]

Fernando Alonso 2008-2021.

[@Roguescienceguy]

Alex will likely find his way back on the grid. He is fast and talented enough, he just wasn't ready

[@sadeeqbello5030]

People forget Redbull was his second in F1

[@Redskies453]

I just always got the sense he didn't have the balls for it. He seems really timid and weak.

[@inkjazz]

@@Redskies453 I agree. Then again, Lando comes off as timid, but on the track he is anything but. Very interesting to watch how personalities change on/off the track.

[@Redskies453]

@@inkjazz I disagree. Lando seems to me to have huge confidence. I thinks he just has a lark out of the car but is SUPER serious when he's driving for position. I think Alex had some confidence but he burned through on those failed Hamilton passes.

[@redbullsauberpetronas]

He's never coming back

[@godwindracing6056]

Moral of this video: don’t be teammates to superstar drivers, Senna or Schumacher in particular

[@ChrisTheGregory]

2:30 That was the year the FIA introduced new technical regulations regarding the appearance of Helmuts.

[@mphomokoena2866]

History will put Bottas on this list great over 1 lap but failed to mount a WDC challenge

[@Apratis]

As the saying goes “anyone can be fast on a lap...”

[@jooger69]

He didn't waste his chance. He spent many years with Mercedes, won races and got pole position. Not everybody gets to be WDC, especially against Hamilton.

[@mphomokoena2866]

@@jooger69 he never mounted a challenge to Lewis a win once in 6 races isn't good enough at that team

[@FCB001]

@@jooger69 wrong, Rosberg did it

[@jenningbernard]

@@FCB001 so you got one guy... You just proved his point

[@ddandrade]

I'm here first :) 😀 love your insight Ed

[@theunknown9956]

No you are not

[@mitchell-wallisforce7859]

Sucks for these blokes, but I refuse to pretend they were hot garbage. Kovalainen - 2005 GP2 Series runner-up, 2016 Super GT500 Champion Mass - 1987 Sebring 12 Hours winner, 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, both overall. Scored a slew of World Sportscar Championship wins. Dumfries - 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans overall winner, podiumed a Cossie in a one-hour enduro in the BTCC Frentzen - Literally almost took the title.....in a Jordan. Never mind winning two races on the way to third in the points. Gasly - 2020 Italian Grand Prix. I don't even need to say anything else. Lehto - Won Le Mans twice overall and thrice in class. Vice-champion of the 2001 American Le Mans Series, and then took the title for himself in 2004. de Cesaris - Still managed 5 podiums AFTER getting sacked by McLaren.....two 2nds and a trio of 3rds. Andretti - Overall podium at Le Mans in 1983 with Kremer on his first damn try. CART Indycar vice-champion two years in a row, in 1986 and 87, then third in 1989, with another runner-up in points in 1990, before taking the title for himself in 1991. All of that happened BEFORE he made it to F1, by the way. --- Moral of the story? The Race can do better for video topics. This video paints a lot of these guys in a poor light when in reality they either just didn't click with their teams, drivers, or F1 cars, before going on to achieve plenty elsewhere, either in different series or different teams. Coulda made a vid on a lot of other things.

[@duckzilla2009]

With the way they hyped up Frentzen's move to Williams pre-season, he could only fail to live up to the expectations and the consequent pressure. I still think he's brilliant though and nobody will ever change my mind about it :)

[@rottieshepcalibre9156]

Out qualifying Senna on his McLaren debut 😂 will George do the same to Hamilton?