F1's Nearly Men: Champions, Winners and Others

OverTake.gg · Aug 6, 2013

It’s a competitive field out there in the furious world of Formula 1 racing, and with such a vast array of talent competing for just 22 race seats, and even fewer race winning cars on offer, there are plenty of drivers who fell by the wayside.

Below are a few of the best who didn't quite make it either as a champion, a race winner or gaining a race seat in the last few years:

World Champions

Mark Webber, Red Bull Racing (2010)

Often touted as one of the unluckiest men in F1, Mark Webber came close to winning the championship in 2010. He lost out in the final race in Abu Dhabi to team-mate Sebastian Vettel after a mistimed pit stop which also cost Alonso the title that year too. With Webber experiencing his final season in the F1 paddock before switching to endurance racing next year it looks likely that Webber will join the ranks of those who came so close to winning the title.

Felipe Massa, Ferrari (2008)

Massa all but had it wrapped up before Lewis Hamilton passed a slow-moving Timo Glock on the last corner, of the last lap, of the last race in 2008 to give the title to the Brit. Fate was cruel to Massa, and after his accident in 2009 was never able to regain the championship winning form he had experienced in his earlier years at the Scuderia. Now he is an established number 2 driver at Ferrari and looks unlikely to ever have a car as quick as his 2008 Ferrari again.

Race Winners

With only a handful of cars each year actually fast enough to win a race, it’s normally a familiar series of faces who make up the podium spots. But here are a few who came close to that top step.

Nick Heidfeld: widely regarded as the best driver never to win a race, his several podiums, solid speed and consistent points finishes helped keep him popular with teams. It was perhaps his second tenure at Sauber where he gained the most chance of winning, although his 2011 Renault showed race winning potential early on in the season before falling behind in the development race.

Timo Glock: his 2009 Toyota was a quick beast and with podiums in Malaysia and Singapore amongst his regular points finishes, a continued stint with a car that good would inevitably have led to his first race win. As such he finished his F1 career at Virgin/Marussia where even a top ten finish wasn’t on the cards. Currently competing in his first DTM season, with a podium to his name, the German will be hoping for a race win here.

Drivers

Luis Razia: Razia thought his F1 dreams had come true when he snapped up the second Marussia seat in pre-season testing earlier this year, but an unfortunate lapse from his sponsors meant his dream didn’t even last a month before he was axed in favour of Jules Bianchi. Such a crucial sponsor error proved costly, and teams may be sceptical of hiring his talents in the future.

Davide Valsecchi: whilst his chances of driving in F1 are not over yet, he became the first GP2 champion not to make it to an F1 seat (Giorgio Pantano had already driven in F1 before he won the GP2 series). Currently holding the reserve driver role at Lotus where he hopes to make progress before being promoted to a race drive. However with Kimi, Grosjean, Vergne and Hulkenberg all battling for a place for next year, it looks like he will be fighting hard to get that drive.

These are just a few of the long list of F1’s ‘Nearly Men’, and as ever, more comments and suggestions are welcome below. Who do you think are F1’s greatest nearly men!?

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Chris Jenkins · Aug 6, 2013

I think stepping out of a racing series in order to be a reserve driver for an F1 team is a bit toxic to be honest.
Drivers that are in GP2 alongside their duties as a reserve driver fare much better in securing a race seat.

The ones that spend the year sat in the garage watching tend to get forgotten about and go stale.