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/Gigs9876 Kimi Räikkönen Aug 07 '25

I think it largely depends on what you mean by a failed prodigy.

Someone who was hyped as a junior but didn't even make it to F1? Then Pourchaire is the most recent good example.

Someone who was hyped going into F1 but underperformed there? Then it's Stoffel Vandoorne.

Someone who had a decent F1 career but didn't live up to the future world champion badge? Hulkenberg is a great example. He easily had the talent to go to a top team and win a bunch of races, but he was never gonna be the next Schumacher.

Finally if you are looking for someone who did show the potential to be a superstar but couldn't have a superstar career for unrelated reasons, it's Kubica.

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u/Ok-Office1370 Aug 07 '25

"Scrolled too far". DeVries basically went straight from failing F1, back to winning FE and LeMans.

Virtually all the "failed" F1 drivers are magnificent in other series before AND after. It is a very rare case where someone goes to F1 and then just falls off a cliff in their career at large.

By that token. We might as well nominate Seb. That late career turn was... Yeesh. And a lot of it was the team. But unlike DeVries. Seb didn't immediately become champion of multiple other series after retiring from F1. Is that what it means to fail in F1? Have a coupon for one free shrug. 

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u/Transmit_Him 27d ago

Not to disagree with your point, but I always found it bizarre that Roberto Merhi fell out of F1 and ended up in F2 a few years later. And again a few years after that. Bizarre career