PART 5: Drivers Who Tested F1 Cars In 1990s

We continue our journey with Part 5 of the series. In the first four parts, we explored several fascinating stories from F1 history. The first part focused on drivers who almost returned to F1 during the 1980s but never did. The second part covered talented names from the 1990s, while another explored drivers fans believed would eventually make a comeback to the grid. Part 4 looked at drivers who came incredibly close to Formula 1 but never actually raced there.

Now, Part 5 turns the spotlight toward drivers who tested F1 cars during the 1990s era but never got the chance to start an official Grand Prix.

Before we continue with the story, we’d like to mention that links to the previous four parts of the series will be added at the end of this article.

Drivers Who Tested F1 Cars In 1990s

What makes this story great here in part 5 is that none of these drivers lacked talent, they became legends outside F1, some won the Indianapolis 500, some dominated Le Mans.

Yet despite testing cars for teams like Williams F1, McLaren, Benetton, they never started a Formula 1 Grand Prix.

Tom Kristensen

Few drivers in motorsport history have a resume as strange as Tom Kristensen’s, before becoming ‘Mr. Le Mans’, the Danish star spent years circling the F1 world without ever finding a permanent race seat.

Tom Kristensen tested extensively for Minardi, Tyrrell, Williams, Jaguar, between 1997 and 2001.

He was strusted enough to help develop Mishelin’s F1 tire program before the French manufacturer returned to the sport in 2001.

Timing never worked, back in 1994, reports suggest that Kristensen was actually offered a short-term opportunity with Simtek.

But without sponsor, it was impossible, according to reports, the team demanded around two million Danish kroner for the drive, and Kristensen refused to become a pay driver, he strongly believed talent should earn a salary, not the other way around; that stance probably cost him his F1 chance.

There were also managemeent problems behind the scenes, Kristensen later admitted that poor coordination between his representatives caused him to miss key contract discussions, including serious talks with Arrows, but while F1 doors slowly closed, another world opened wide for the Danish driver.

After winning Le Mans on his debut in 1997, Tom Kristensen became one of endurance racing’s biggest stars, but another Formula 1 opportunity never came his way again.

Kenny Bräck

Kenny Brack’s story feels like one giant crossroads in racing history; in Europe during the 1990s, Brack was considered one of the sharpest open-wheel talents outside F1, he tested for Williams in 1993 and later became an official test driver for Ligier before moving to Arrows under team boss Tom Wilkinshaw.

Reports suggest, that Arrows repeatedly promised him testing mileage, then barely delivered.

One of fifteen planned testing days, Brack reportedly received just two.

He eventually walked away in 1996 to focus on Formula 3000.

Hockenheimring 1996: That same year produced one of the most controversial moments of his career; driving for Super Nova in International Formula 3000, Kenny Brack crossed the line first in the season finale and appeared set to win the championship; but then came a controversial steward decision that qualified him after the race, handing the title to Jorg Muller instead.

We believe that if Kenny Bräck had officially secured the title, his chances of landing a competitive F1 seat would have increased dramatically. Instead, he chose a different path and moved to America, a decision that probably became the best move of his career.

Partnering with legendary team owner A.J Foyt, Brack conquered the IRL scene, winning the 1998 championship and the 1999 Indianapolis 500.

Paul Tracy

When Paul Tracy climbed into a Benetton F1 car at Estoril in 1994; reports suggest that he shocked everyone.

The aggressive Canadian had already built a reputation in CART with Team Penske; but F1 was still skeptical about American-based drivers, that skepticism disappeared quickly once the stopwatch started.

His lap times were sensational; he reportedly outperformed other test drivers of Benetton, during the same weekend at the Portuguese, his best lap would have placed him fourth on the actual grid, close to Ferrari’s pole time!

F1 suddenly looked like a realistic possibility. Reports suggest that a contract was on the table, but Flavio Briatore reportedly wanted him to drive for another team first, or even return to America, leading Paul Tracy’s advisors to reject the offer.

He stayed in CART; became one of the most recognizable personalities in American open-wheel racing, won 31 IndyCar races, and secured the 2003 Champ Car title.

Al Unser Jr.

By the time Al Unser JR. tested a Formula 1 cr in 1992; he was already a superstar in USA, that is what makes his story so unusual.

F1 desperately wanted a major American name during the early 1990s, Williams eventually organized a five day test for Unser Jr. at Estoril using the dominant FW14.

But the opportunity never came. Williams Racing already had its sights set on Alain Prost for 1993. Still, it raises an interesting question, what if Al Unser Jr. had been given that car instead? With his talent and form at the time, he could have had a genuine chance of fighting for the championship in his very first F1 season.

Reports suggest that Benetton Formula made him an offer, but Al Unser Jr. was already earning far more money in CART at the time, giving him little reason to leave for F1.

Gil de Ferran

Gil de Ferran may have come closer to F1 than almost anyone on the list; following a dominant British Formula 3 title in 1992, he earned a F1 test with Williams.

However, Williams F1 Team ultimately chose David Coulthard as its future test and reserve driver, and the next opportunity for Gil de Ferran looked even bigger.

In 1993; Footwork Arrows organized a direct shootout test between de Ferran, Christian Fittipaldi, and a young Dutch prospect named Jos Verstappen, the winner would likely secure a Formula 1 seat.

The main problem was that the mechanics spent most of their time helping Gil de Ferran settle into the car, adjusting the cockpit because he struggled to fit comfortably inside it.

With not much time, Verstappen delivered blistering laps and stole the spotlight; that moment changed the trajectory of both careers.

Rather than remain in Europe as testing driver, de Ferran moved to America and instantly became one of CART’s elite drivers; racing for Team Penske, he won back-to-back CART championships in 2000 and 2001 before finally capturing the Indianapolis 500 in 2003.

However, F1 eventually welcomed him back anyway; de Ferran later became Sporting Director for BAR and later returned to the paddock with mcLaren in a senio management role.

Sadly, he passed away in 2023 at the age of 56; but among racing fans, he remains one of the greatest ‘what if’ stories F1 never answered!

Jörg Müller

Jorg Muller’s F1 story remains one of the strangest; he did almost everything correctly, he won the International Formula 3000, and became deeply involved with one of F1’s biggest factory projects of the era.

Yet somehow, he never started a single Grand Prix.

That stat still surprises many racing fans because Muller wasn’t some forgotten backmarker prospect.

Throughout the late 1990s, he was viewed inside the paddock as one of the most technically gifted development drivers in Europe.

His breakthrough came after the dramatic 1996 Formula 3000 finale. Following that moment, Tom Walkinshaw signed Yvan Muller as an official test driver for Arrows in 1997, before he later moved to Sauber for 1998.

But the biggest opportunity arrived when BMW prepared for its official F1 return; BMW trusted Muller with one of the most secretive development in F1 at the time, between 1999 and 2001, he spent countless testing early BMW V10 engines inside modified Williams chassis painted entirely white to disguise the project.

However, Williams already had race seats tied up with established names like Ralf Schumacher, while future opportunities quickly shifted toward younger headline-making prospects such as Jenson Button and Juan Pablo Montoya.

Muller became too valuable behind the scenes; engine manufacturers adored his consistency, feedback, and mechanical sympathy, and just like that; one of the best drivers of his generation became F1’s invisible man.

Colin McRae

There are few ‘what if’ stories in motorsport more fascinating than Colin McRae driving a F1 car.

We already mentioned another rally legend, Sébastien Loeb, in Part 4 as a driver who came close to joining Formula 1, but Colin McRae also had the opportunity to test an F1 car.

Unlike most names on this list of Part 5; McRae never spent years chasing the F1 ladder, by the time he tested a Formula 1 car in 1996, he was already one of the biggest stars in world motorsport after winning the 1995 World Rally Championship with Subaru, but still, F1 fans couldn’t ignore what happened at Silverstone.

Reports suggest, as part of a high-profile promotional event, McRae swapped cars with Martin Brundle of Jordan, Brundle climbed into McRae’s legendary Subaru Impreza 555 rally car; while McRae strapped himself into the screaming Jordan-Peugeot F1 car.

The Scottish driver was immediately competitive; reports suggest that his times were fast enough that he would likely would have qualified for the British Grand Prix grid that same year.

But for McRae, F1 was never the dream.

He loved the chaos of rallying too much, gravel roads, forests, jumps, blind corners, that unpredictability was where he felt alive.

Emmanuel Collard

Few drivers worked harder behind F1 garage doors than Emmanuel Collard; throughout the 1990s, the Frenchman became one of the paddock’s ultimate development specialists, testing for Ligier, Williams, Benetton, Prost, and Arrows.

For a while, many fans believed Emmanuel Collard would eventually become a full-time F1 driver. Backed by the French oil giant Elf Aquitaine, Collard entered the Formula 1 environment at a very young age.

His biggest chance finally appeared in 1997, after Olivier Panis’s accident at the Canadian Grand Prix. Alain Prost reportedly organized a private shootout test at Magny-Cours between Collard and recently dropped Minardi driver Jarno Trulli. It was effectively an audition for a F1 race seat, but Trulli narrowly won it.

For Emmanuel Collard, a real chance to secure a F1 seat never materialised, so he turned to endurance racing. What followed became one of the strongest endurance careers of his generation. He competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 25 times, achieved overall podium finishes and class victories, won the 24 Hours of Daytona, claimed an overall win at Sebring with Team Penske, and secured multiple Le Mans Series championships. While F1 never gave him a race start, endurance racing still turned him into a true legend.

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