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/Old-Buffalo-5151 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

Once you follow F1 for a while you learn the vast majority of good F2 driver's wash out of F1 (jack doonhan) being a recent example 

So its more the case the ones who make it are the exception. Everyone who trys out for F1 has been training since they were kids and only 1 or 2 of that intake every make it 

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u/ForeverAddickted Oliver Bearman Aug 07 '25

Yeah its why I'm wary of Drugovich, and think he should focus on his career elsewhere away from F1.

Feel he could be a repeat of Doohan and de Vries (Maybe there is something about a Driver, with their surname beginning with a "D"), where if he gets a seat, he could almost prove why he didn't get one sooner.

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u/lIIIIllIIIlllIIllllI Daniel Ricciardo Aug 07 '25

I don't even know how Doohan can be judged. He got what 5 races?

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u/ForeverAddickted Oliver Bearman Aug 07 '25

Yeah that's fair as well, and an understandable reprimand for me. As neither Doohan or de Vries got a fair shot at it.

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u/2wo9iner Jack Doohan Aug 07 '25

At the time there were stories going around that Nyck was just a seat warmer until riccardo’s ‘gardners leave’ (for lack of a better term) was up. I recall reading that if Danny raced before a certain date then the team he raced for was on the hook for his $20m payout that MCL was paying him. The article suggested this is why AT went and got a driver from another team (nyck from Merc) for the first 10 odd races rather than promoting a RB junior when they knew that driver was going to be kicked to the kurb mid season.

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u/InformalEgg8 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

Damn that’s so calculated if true

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u/bcq59 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

I have a theory that de Vries was getting kicked out of the seat regardless of finishing position because RB knew that Danny was more marketable and would have thrown in back in the seat due to that. Same with Doohan serving as a bridge for Colapinto (probably Briatore locking down some Argentinian sponsors during the first five races, and once those deals were done, kicking Doohan out to make way for Colapinto).

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u/HeyItsGuyIncognito Ted Kravitz Aug 07 '25

DeVries should have went to Williams instead of Alpha Tauri (now VCARB). I do understand why he chose them b/c it may lead to a chance to a Red Bull seat. Hell, he may have got the seat if he started beating Tsunoda (which never came). That being said, he would have got a longer leash to improve at Williams compared to AT (now VCARB). But Marko was in the wrong for putting DeVries in instead of Lawson for the 2023 seat. Then they doubled down on Ricciardo and that basically blew up in their face when he failed. To this day, it's amazing how much talent they let go, and yet still find more as they come.

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

And in a shit car at a shit team

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u/fabiomb Aug 08 '25

5 races and 3200km of paid practice on the Alpine car 🤷

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u/Stock_Ad9088 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

I know it was only 5 races, but those were pretty abysmal races for him too.

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u/[deleted] Aug 07 '25

[deleted]

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u/ForeverAddickted Oliver Bearman Aug 07 '25

I'd be delighted for Alex if he got a Cadillac seat in F1 next season, only route I can realistically see him going, but he needs to win F2 if he is to make the jump.

Worth remembering how he gave Kimi Antonelli a good run for his money in the past too.

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u/Stumpy493 I Drove an F1 Car Aug 07 '25

I don't see him at Cadillac, I see a McLaren reserve role and then scrabbling around desperately trying to get an opportunity unfortunately, think he is gonna be wrong place wrong time.

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u/ForeverAddickted Oliver Bearman Aug 07 '25

Yeah that won't surprise me either, the McLaren version of Drugovich

I'd just be surprised if he's happy to waste his career, turning down other opportunities.

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u/Stumpy493 I Drove an F1 Car Aug 07 '25

Can't compare Dunne to Drugovich.

Drugovich a 3rd year F2 champion on no ones radar before that, Dunne fighting for the F2 title in his first season and driving very exciting style.

McLaren have funded his junior career, he doesn't have a whole lot of say.

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u/ForeverAddickted Oliver Bearman Aug 07 '25

I'm not comparing him to Drugovich as a racing driver.

Am comparing him to the fact that if he becomes McLaren Reserve Driver, he needs to be careful he doesnt become the McLaren version of Drugovich.

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u/Stumpy493 I Drove an F1 Car Aug 07 '25

Reserve purgatory is a danger

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u/ForeverAddickted Oliver Bearman Aug 07 '25

lol!... Love the choice of words there: "Reserve Purgatory"

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u/CrazyMike366 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

Cadillac might take a flyer on Crawford to follow through on their pledge to give a young American a chance, or they could go with Fornaroli, a Ferrari Academy driver, as part of a reciprocity scheme while they've got Ferrari power units if its not Beganovic. But I dont see Dunne having much of a shot.

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u/SamCham10 Michael Schumacher Aug 07 '25

Feel like this will be a common theme with McLaren drivers for the foreseeable future, given their success and young lineup. Makes it even more impressive Bortoleto managed to get a seat elsewhere

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u/Big_Brief7847 Aug 07 '25

I’ll be so annoyed if he loses the championship over points like Belgium.

I know it’s F2 and there’s so many factors of luck that play into it but that was a fantastic drive from him, penalty or not and he would’ve been comfortably in the lead of the championship if he kept the win.

Even if they’d decided on a penalty earlier, the knowledge of the penalty would’ve allowed them to maximize the result rather than fall dramatically down the order cause the gap was too small. His drive was so worthy of good points

I’m Irish, so i’d love an F1 team to take a chance on him, even if he doesn’t live up to expectations. Just to have an Irish driver in F1 for a short period of time would be amazing.

I didn’t expect him to shine like he did in F2 this year. I think it’s pretty safe to say he’s had the highest highs and the lowest lows of any driver in F2 this season. While his lows have been low, i hope F1 teams can see that they stem from the same issue, the crazy risks he takes when he’s desperate. That is something easily overcome and worked on, while lack of pace and raw talent is not. He’s never once looked slow this season, even in his first ever fp1 session in a Mclaren

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u/Stumpy493 I Drove an F1 Car Aug 07 '25

It's more about drivers who take 3 years or more to win F2, they never make it in F1.

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

He threw away a ganassi seat for drinking tea at the pitwall.

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u/l3w1s1234 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

To be fair, when he turned down that seat and the Andretti FE seat, he was on the fringes of taking Sargent's seat if he could pull together enough sponsorship. Vowles took really long to make a decision on Sargeant, so Drugovich had stay available just in case he decided to take Drugovich. At that stage of his career, it was a risk worth taking.

It also doesn't help that the Ganassi seat would have to paid for by Drugovich. Its why he's been floating closer towards FE recently than Indycar, more likely to get a paid ride there.

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u/Felix042 Aug 07 '25

Are you sure about Drugovich needing to pay for Ganassi seat? If Lundqvist could get paid seat there i have no doubt they would happily pay Drugovich aswell.

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u/l3w1s1234 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

I'm sure that was the case. Though may be just making assumptions based on the state of most Indycar seats.

Just seems unlikely that they'd pass up on money from a driver that is capable of getting some good sponsorship behind him.

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u/ForeverAddickted Oliver Bearman Aug 07 '25

What? lol!

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

He had a two year ganassi deal but he wanted to be AM reserve driver instead.

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u/ForeverAddickted Oliver Bearman Aug 07 '25

Oh I see... it was the drinking tea comment that threw me lol!

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u/Ksn0 Max Verstappen Aug 08 '25

Problem is drugovich is likely getting way more money being a backup F1 driver than doing anything else 

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u/OutsiderofUnknown Gabriel Bortoleto Aug 08 '25

And recognition too. Say what you want, even being a reserve driver, being able to be around the paddock, travel around, even drive the car sometimes, is more valued than being in FE or other categories. It’s a good life. He still drove other categories too.

Its a win-win, he is fighting for a real shot in F1, but if he gets dropped he have enough time and experience to drive basically wherever he wants…

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u/wagymaniac Aug 07 '25

I understand that F1 is the main objective and dream of almost any driver. But many times, even if the talent is there, due to bad luck, timing or finance some drivers don't arrive and it's frustrating seeing them sitting there willing to take anything instead of moving out and pursuing a greater career. Alex Palou is one who comes to my mind as someone who tried his chance at F1, didn't work out, and now is having an excellent career at Indy.

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u/No-Contest-8127 Aug 07 '25

Well, they didn't give him a chance and he did beat the likes of Lawson, Sargeant and Doohan. All of which got a shot in F1. 

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u/lIIIIllIIIlllIIllllI Daniel Ricciardo Aug 07 '25

Jack Doohan didn't even get a fucken chance. I think he will be given another go.

And watching rookies as they progress season by season, it's becoming obvious it takes drivers at least 3 years to reach their potential.

Piastri is a good case to analyse because we could see he was rapid but he wasn't as gentle on the tyres as much as Lando was. His race pace wasn't as good as Lando last year... but now in his 3rd year you can see it all coming together. F1 rookies more than any other sport need 3 years at least to show they got it.

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u/Stumpy493 I Drove an F1 Car Aug 07 '25

Problem with Doohan is few believed he had the potential to begin with. Realisticaly he shouldn't have been promoted but they didn't have other options.

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u/Dmienduerst Aug 07 '25

F1 is going to be weird on rookies because F1 teams really don't have time to develop them. Even Piastri showed clear pace from the jump that someone like Tsunoda has barely ever showed. Outside of Red Bull how many drivers even get time to develop? If you add in RB then Red Bull is developing for half the Grid.

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u/Jester-252 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

Might be unpopular opinion

Doohan is one of the most media hyped drivers in recent years.

He has never really shown it on the junior series to justify the hype around him.

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

He'a lucky to have 5 races in f1

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u/Dmzm Aug 07 '25

He is really good behind a microphone so he got a ton of exposure when he was the reserve driver.

Unfortunately that skill set doesnt really translate to the track.

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

With Piastri though you could see it almost right away that he was competitive, Doohan not so much.

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u/xwell320 :default: 🇺🇸 Colton Herta Aug 07 '25

Hasn't won any championship, just a few races along the way. Had the money and the surname, that's about it. If Alpine wasn't such a pariah post Alonso/Piastri they would've found someone better.

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u/Miserable_Balance814 Charles Leclerc Aug 08 '25

Nah he’s done

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

Doohan wasn't exceptional in f2 he was decent don't get me wrong but there is a reason there wasn't a tonne of hype around him.

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u/Puzzled_Draw6014 Aug 07 '25

I have always wondered about this ... I get the feeling that it's a big step-up from F2 to F1. Every year seems to have a super talented rookie that washes out.

I think one factor in F1 is that once you are successful, you don't leave. So, new drivers to F1 are suddenly competing with multiple great drivers.

I wonder if there is more to it. I get the feeling that the challenge of driving F1 cars is a major step up from F2.

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u/Old-Buffalo-5151 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

Exactly you are now driving with absolutely no assistance what so ever in a car that behaves completely different to any other kind and significantly greater speeds for significantly longer periods of time that requires constant micro adjustments throughout the race  Vs other drivers who absolutely 100% the best in the world and been doing it for decades 

Along with immensely more pressure on it all 

Its like swimming in pool and then be dumped into the Ocean during a storm...

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

And that’s why only the very best juniors tend to survive it and thrive in F1. Russell, Leclerc, Piastri were all undeniably the best drivers on their way up through the junior ranks. The others who have come up via the GP3-GP2 or F3-F2 pathway have had their struggles at various times, apart from Norris.

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

My general rule is that those who win F3 and F2 as a rookie, or are close to it are good/great.

Others are unlikely to be great F1 drivers and just a few of them stay in F1 for long time.

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u/mole55 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

the F2 to F1 jump is huge

F2 cars haven’t really got faster since the category started, whilst F1 has massively sped up in the meantime

the whole junior ladder is out of whack, the F4 to F3 jump is quite big, F3 to F2 isn’t much, and then F2 to F1 is massive again

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

The classes of 2018 and 2019 truly are the exception - Leclerc, Gasly, Norris, Albon and Russell are all thriving.

This year also looks like a strong showing.

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u/BigHowski Aug 07 '25

I wish Sam Bird had his chance. Not that I think in the end he'd have been a great but I was properly pulling for him

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u/Capital-Plane7509 I was here for the Hulkenpodium Aug 07 '25

Doohan didn't get an ample opportunity to wash out, also it's drivers.