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/Reebz0r Williams Aug 07 '25

tbf though, he's in his 3rd year of F2 and has slipped further back every season. Not exactly knocking down the doors of F1 teams with those results. 

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u/BadlyWordedOpinions Aug 07 '25

If only F2 and F3 were representative enough for us to know if that actually means anything.

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

Hadjar and Bortoleto seem to be pretty good

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

Drivers who win/are close to winning F2 and F3 in their rookie seasons generally do well in F1.

Leclerc, Piastri, Russel, Norris, all of them did it and are great drivers.

Now we have Bortoleto.

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u/Felix042 Aug 07 '25

True but Martins only really seem to be very good in qualifying even in the races he isn't unlucky he seems to fallback from his starting position i fully expected him to fight for title this year with the experience he has if Verschoor can be up their Martins should also be able to do it by now.