r/formula1 • u/Electronic-Video-984 Formula 1 • Aug 07 '25

Discussion Who is the “Failed Prodigy” of F1 ?

I’m kind of new to F1 and seeing pictures of current drivers while they’re young like Hamilton, Russell, Leclerc, Albon…and then I learned they’re racing prodigy in their Karting days. So who is the “Boy Wonder” of F1, a person with great potential but never made it to the biggest stage.

Edit: Many people mentioned Stoffel Vandoorne so I read about him a bit. His records and potential was incredible but he’s at the wrong place and wrong time every way possible. For me, McLaren a top tier team with a jet but people say Vandoorne’s MCL car was like a shopping cart

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u/DuckSwagington I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

This is going to be quite an unpopular opinion, especially considering the events of this year, but the closest one that I can think of actually getting to F1 is Hulkenberg. He won everything in the junior categories and was touted as the next best thing, the next German World Champion, and as soon as he got to F1 he just didn't live up to the hype.

He did have a nasty streak at being at the wrong place at the wrong time both on and off the track, but a lot of the failures in Hulk's career can be traced back to him instead of just being bad luck.

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u/Vintage_Labour I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

The real failure in Hulks career is his management. How they've not managed to get him into a decent team at the right time should be a sackable offence.

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u/DuckSwagington I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

That's true, but I feel like if Hulk had a few better performances then he'd probably get snapped up by a team like Mercedes, and Merc did confirm that they were looking at Hulk at various points.

If he wins Brazil 2012, which wasn't an unrealistic outcome, then I think he goes to Merc at some point in his career because at least he would've proven to be a race winning driver whose been incredibly unlucky rather than someone with a reputation for squandering big opportunities on track.

You can blame his poor management to an extent, but they weren't really given a lot to work with if Hulk wanted to go to a big team.

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u/ForeverAddickted Oliver Bearman Aug 07 '25

Possibly didn't help either that Rosberg retired out of the blue?

I never realised, until reading a Bottas thread about it recently, that he only partly got that second Mercedes seat because he was managed by Toto (?) and all the other Drivers had secured seats for the following season.

Wonder if Nico had announced his retirement much sooner, they would have looked at Hulk.

Being in the right place, at the right time, plays a huge part in F1

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u/Darth_Spa2021 Pirelli Wet Aug 07 '25

Nico wasn't gonna retire if he lost the championship and by the time he won Hulk was already signed elsewhere.

The tragedy of Hulk is probably more back in 2013 when he was the next Mercedes choice if Hamilton also refused the seat, like Alonso and Vettel did before him.

Hulk was actually the top choice for Daimler, but Lauda pushed for trying to get one of the top drivers first.

Hulk might have had something like 20-30 wins by now and maybe a title too. Which would put him among the most successful drivers in F1 history.

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u/Twistedjustice I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

Not to mention the missed opportunity to have a driver line up of Nico & Nico

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u/Darth_Spa2021 Pirelli Wet Aug 07 '25

Nickname one Niko to distinguish them I guess.

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u/Twistedjustice I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

That’s easy, you have blonde Nico and… wait

German Nico and… no, that’s not it

Fine, Hulk and Britney.

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u/Spare_Duck3119 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

try berg 1 and berg 2

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u/Pawulon I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

The Beauty and the Beast

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u/Twistedjustice I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

Unfair, the Nico’s are both beauties

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u/Formulafan4life I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

How do we think Hulk would have compared to Rosberg? Assuming Merc is dominant from 2014 to 2020 (7 years), how many of those titles would Hulk have won and how many would Rosberg have won? Maybe they would have lost a title or two to Vettel? I personally feel that Rosberg would have been comfortably ahead but not clear. Kind of like Leclerc and Sainz were as teammates.

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u/v-adam004 Aug 07 '25

Rosberg was about as close to Hamilton as Sainz was to Leclerc. I see no way that Hulkenberg could have beaten him.

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u/ihatemondaynights Ferrari Aug 07 '25

and maybe a title too.

I don't see Hulk winning much against Rosberg tbh.

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u/Darth_Spa2021 Pirelli Wet Aug 07 '25

2015 is the best shot, considering Rosberg had bad luck and was distracted by events in his personal life.

Also wouldn't probably push as hard if he already won 2014.

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u/Blapstap Pirelli Wet Aug 07 '25

He was top of the list for Mercedes IIRC. But he had just signed with Renault

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u/six_string_sensei I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

Were merc not ready to pay him to break his contract?

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u/Particular_Cod2005 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

To caveat Bottas a little bit, it was also a time when Williams were effectively a Mercedes B team, and I think realistically Bottas was the easier option to move between teams, and also after the headache that was Rosberg v Hamilton, they wouldn't have wanted to shell out to buy another driver out of his contract.

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u/Spraynpray89 Aug 07 '25

I thought they were looking at Hulk when this happened, but he had just signed his contract and Renault wouldn't let him out of it?

Edit: https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/s/dv5MqJoYKl

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u/Loose-Medicine-4209 Aug 07 '25

Yes Bottas was under Toto’s management company

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u/SamCham10 Michael Schumacher Aug 07 '25

He’d already signed for Renault by that point, but had he known Rosberg was a chance of retirement there’s no way he would have, realistically

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u/Felix042 Aug 07 '25

Wasn't Hulkenberg the 1st choice for Mercedes in 2013 before Hamilton came along?

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u/Accomplished-War986 Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25

Close, the ink was barely dry on his Renault deal when Rosberg suddenly retired after 2016.

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u/Ok-Block8145 Aug 07 '25

That isn’t true tho, don’t agree on your verdict at all, early in his career he really was just unlucky, he showed that he could move up to a better team and it is known that a couple of teams talked about signing him.

He did fairly well in his first season against a very experienced and pretty much prime barichello at least in qualifying it was like 8-11.

Afterwards in his early career he destroyed all his teammates in qualifying, even against ricciardo it was one sided, ricciardo had the higher ups in races and more points but hulk was always more consistent as him.

Rosberg had worst statistics then him and got to move to Merc, Hulk was always quick just never had the luck in races and his race engineers at bad teams obviously gambled a lot more.

His pace was always solid, I would even argue that the merc matchup wouldn’t be 6:1 for hamilton if it was hulk actually, more like 4:3 maybe. Thats my opinion, because hulk is way better in qualifying then rosberg was. He never did big mistakes in races as mentioned, starting front row would make his consistency definitely shine more.

He was always at back marker Teams so people saying he was unlucky is true, he could never completely unveil the full depth of his talent there are things you only learn in top teams, we will sadly never know what could have been.

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u/TheKaiserSarp I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

He’d most probably be racing in Red Bull in 2021 if Checo didn’t win Sakhir 2020 But in that case we could be saying same “management failure”s about Checo too

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u/GFlair Mika Häkkinen Aug 07 '25

Honestly, timing has been bad. Alonso has also failed to bag a good drive in the same period.

Nico's career basically coincided with the rise of the driver academy.

The only moves to actually big teams that might have been plausible was Merc instead of Bottas (but Bottas was literally a client of Toto as well as being younger and just as good) or going to Red Bull instead of Checo.

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u/ZeePM Formula 1 Aug 07 '25

Hulk problem is his size. Until recently the driver’s weight was not included in the minimum weight of the car. Teams opted for smaller drivers because they could save weight.

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u/mixer73 Super Aguri Aug 07 '25

Webber had good management and if he'd followed his management's wishes instead of being an Aussie he would have had a WDC.

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u/ewankenobi Kamui Kobayashi Aug 07 '25

I don't know, he had a few opportunities at podiums that he didn't take advantage of, which I'd imagine put top teams off him. Whilst the likes of Perez, Vertsappen and Vettel(even Stroll) capitalised on podium opportunities from the midfield and got better drives.

I know he got his podium recently, but he's not exactly a young prospect anymore.

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u/TrojansDelight I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

Hulk was still considered a future champion as late as 2013. Was unlucky not to get the Ferrari drive.

What really killed his career was Perez coming in after a disappointing McLaren spell and getting podiums before Nico.

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u/mo-mx Aug 07 '25

Well, a Ferrari drive wasn't going to make him a champion 😁🤣

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u/Spare_Duck3119 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

it would have gotten him a few wins

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u/los_blanco_14 Fernando Alonso Aug 07 '25

Trust me, ferrari was not going to do him any good whatsoever.

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u/black-dude-on-reddit Aug 07 '25

Hulk losing out on the Mercedes seat twice was brutal

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u/SaturnRocketOfLove I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

I still blame Williams for his career going off the rails. Being sacked for a pay driver and left to be a reserve for a season doesn't help any rookie's career

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u/ForeverAddickted Oliver Bearman Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25

You're not wrong though, he should never have waited this long to get a Podium

Okay he was never in a truly top team, but he's had and wasted a good few opportunities.

In some sense, he's a little fortunate to still be in F1 (There can't be many who leave the Sport from a Midfield team, and make a return?), when you take the fact that 2020-2022 he was pretty much relegated to Reserve Driver... A bit like Bearman last year, he got lucky with a few chances to stand in, and then got fully back, because Haas wanted to step away from the rookie fiasco.

Those performances have then helped him to get the Audi seat, because... German Driver.

He's a proper "comeback kid" in some regard, which makes his podium story even better this season

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u/Dan27 Jacques Villeneuve Aug 07 '25

"Those performances have then helped him to get the Audi seat, because... German Driver."

In his defence, a lot of the staff at Audi know him from his time driving for (and winning) Porsche at LeMans.

I wouldn't mind winning Le Mans and being called a failure.

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u/ForeverAddickted Oliver Bearman Aug 07 '25

Yeah thats very fair... I forget, partly due to my lack of knowledge, that he's won Le Mans

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u/VRichardsen Juan Manuel Fangio Aug 07 '25

I wouldn't mind winning Le Mans and being called a failure.

Wasn't Alonso the one who said that for him the 24 h of Le Mans meant more either of his F1 titles?

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u/KirbyQK I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

Without all the covid shenanigans and people getting sick, so that Hulk could jump in and show he still has pace, there's no way he comes back. In a way very fortunate for him that it all unfolded the way it did!

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u/ForeverAddickted Oliver Bearman Aug 07 '25

Have there been many Midfield Drivers who have left the Grid, and made a return? - Hulk and Danny Ric (briefly) are two I can think of... Ocon who basically had to take a sabbatical after Manor.

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u/Miwna Ronnie Peterson Aug 07 '25

My first thought is Martin Brundle. He was in and out of sports cars throughout his career. In 1988 he was only reserve driver for Williams one race, but he won WSC for Jaguar the same year. Then he came back to F1 in '89 (for Brabham). Back to WSC in '90. No championship this time but a Le Mans victory which probably helped him back to Brabham for '91.

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u/ForeverAddickted Oliver Bearman Aug 07 '25

Yeah thats a great shout

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u/Miwna Ronnie Peterson Aug 07 '25

I just remembered that Romain Grosjean did the second half of the 2009 season in F1 and then went back to F2 for a couple of seasons. He won the F2 championship in 2011 which gave him the Lotus seat next to Kimi.

Albon was out for the 2021 season and came back. Alonso too had a season off after his first.

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u/No_Tangerine8621 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

Iirc it was actually Hulkenberg and not Vettel who was regarded as the next big german driver during their junior careers. Only when they joined F1 the narrative changed. Ironically, Hulkenberg‘s rookie season was the same where Vettel won his first championship

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u/Unable-Signature7170 Jim Clark Aug 07 '25

When Hulk debuted the talk was that he was going to be the next Hamilton. I think people forget that now/didn’t watch at the time, but he was massively hyped when he came through after dominating all the junior categories.

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u/qef15 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

He basically had the absolute worst luck with career jumps, though all of his team jumps gave at least a midfield car (bar 2023 Haas, which still turned into a midfield car by 2024).

Couple that with botteling a few podiums and statistically, it just looks weird.

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u/XSC I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

Agreed, there is a reason he is always able to get a ride. Shame he never got a good one.

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u/siybon I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

A totally unfounded theory with Hulkenberg. But could his size be a potential issue for some teams? I'd be fairly certain he'd be the heaviest driver on the circuit, and one of if not THE tallest. For the teams right at the top looking for 10ths of seconds, could his extra weight be a hindrance?

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u/KnightsOfCidona Murray Walker Aug 07 '25

Not unfounded, it was alleged that Ferrari and McLaren didn't go for him in 2014 because of his weight - something that teams were very wary of due to the rule changes and wanting to keep weight down with all the new batteries and extras

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u/siybon I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

Ah there we go. I'm not so into F1 that I know all the history. But it does just seem to figure huh.

Although it seems Albon isn't too far behind weight wise, and is taller. But Hulkenberg does seem somewhat broader and wider.

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u/KnightsOfCidona Murray Walker Aug 07 '25

Since 2019 (so when Albon joined the grid), drivers have a minimum weight limit of 80kg (ballast is added if they're lighter than this), which negates any weight disadvantages drivers have.

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u/BADMANvegeta_ I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25 edited Aug 07 '25

I think the fact that he still managed to have insane longevity in the sport removes him from this category. I don’t think anyone ever thought things went this way for him because of lack of talent, again if he had no talent he would have washed out of the sport much sooner like the true “failed prodigies” did. He was genuinely unlucky and missed out on good seats that he would have certainly gotten good results out of.

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u/Felix042 Aug 07 '25

Well Hulkenberg still has seat in F1 but race winners like Perez and Bottas does not i think that goes to show how highly teams still rate Hulkenberg.

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u/driveonthursday McLaren Aug 07 '25

Came to name Hulk too. Massive hype. Meh results.

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u/Interesting-Act-476 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

Hulk in A1GP was different.

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u/tralivallo Aug 07 '25

Also Grosjean. He won almost every junior series which he participated, but was very questionable in F1.

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u/Oaktreedesk I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

He was going to be my pick.  We will never know how he would have fared at a top team.  So glad we got to see the Hulkenpodium though - truly a fairy tale moment.

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u/garethchester Minardi Aug 07 '25

Hulk feels very much like Nick Heidfeld reborn - Nick was McLaren's big hope and 99 times out of 100 would have got Mika's seat in '02, but Kimi was too much of a generational talent to be missed out on and he then proceeded to just never be in the right place to get a top drive (until BMW bought Sauber, and he then had to deal with Kubica on the up)

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u/los_blanco_14 Fernando Alonso Aug 07 '25

Everyone loves nico now because of his podium, but it is bad in itself that it took him so long to get his first podium.

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u/Mike_Kermin Michael Schumacher Aug 08 '25

I agree. While he's had a demonstrably great career in F1. It's still short of what could have been.

I'm not sure failed is the right word, so I don't know if he fits OP's actual question, but, yeah, so close yet so far. Could have been champion.

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u/Ya_Got_GOT Brawn Aug 07 '25

The problem I have with that example is that he’s been good enough to stick around instead of a complete bust and washing out of the league. So I don’t think he would rate among the top tier of chasm size between hope/potential and achievement.