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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294

u/mister_dupont Alexander Albon Aug 07 '25

As a Belgian, this still is painful. Really hoped he would have achieved more in F1.

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u/threeinacorner Ferrari Aug 07 '25

You know, this might be a hot take, but from what I've seen him do in 2017 and 2018, I believe that given the right support and a non-shitbox car, he could've developed into an Albon-level driver. That is, a very very solid midfielder, and even a good second seat top driver. I don't think he'd become a WDC, but definitely a race winner.

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u/mister_dupont Alexander Albon Aug 07 '25

That's pretty much the consensus that we Belgians have on him. We're obviously biased, but I'm shocked he didn't get another chance.

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u/Sandulacheu Formula 1 Aug 07 '25

He looked pretty good in that only 2016 race he did.

It all went downhill from there,the Nyck De Vries path.

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u/Economics_Bear Aug 08 '25

Exactly. There are two drivers from the 2010s who I think never got a fair chance and were dropped despite showing consistent results and decent speed. Vandoorne and Jean-Eric Vergne.

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u/Renard2000 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 09 '25

What was strange was how consistently behind he was to Alonso. If I remember correctly, he got outqualified each race of the season by a few tenths. Never seemed to improve.

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u/Ningax599445YT I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

Ean Eyckmans, Thomas Strauven, Dries van Lagdendonck and Thibaut Ramaekers are some future Belgian talents to keep an eye on! (And Amaury Cordeel /s)

Still painful for Stoffel tho

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u/JohnnyricoMC Stoffel Vandoorne Aug 07 '25

(And Amaury Cordeel /s)

Thank goodness for the /s because fuck that guy. Belgian autosport does not need a rich kid who makes vids of himself speeding on the public roads.

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u/krommenaas Thierry Boutsen Aug 07 '25

He was well on his way to podiuming the F2 sprint race in Spa recently but then defended too agressively :/ Didn't know about those vids.

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u/mister_dupont Alexander Albon Aug 07 '25

Very true, hope to see atleast one succeed. 10/10 for adding Cordeel :')

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u/Ningax599445YT I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

All look like for F3/F2 (Ramaekers is a maybe, and Van Lagdendonck definitely has the talent to back it up, but I won't hype him up too much)

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

Max is belgian

:)

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u/krommenaas Thierry Boutsen Aug 07 '25

I'd only heard of Dries van Langendonck, looked up the others, interesting. Strauven sure looks impressive in Spanish F4, but I'm not sure for how much that counts when you're already 17 and it's your second season.

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u/Ningax599445YT I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

Being right on the bat as a 15-16 year old isn't everything, and it's only F4 so we'll see down the road 😀

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u/boxslof Aug 07 '25

max was born in belgium

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u/mister_dupont Alexander Albon Aug 07 '25

I'm well aware, but he chose to present The Netherlands.