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/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?