Photo: giuengi / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
F1 is often painted as a pure meritocracy, the fastest driver in the fastest car wins!
But in reality is messier, when you hit the track, things are differently, you need to put it all together.
Some of the sport’s greatest names had the talent to conquer the world but instead became symbols of misfortune.
Let us revisit some of the drivers who, for one reason or another, never quite got what their skills deserved.
Chris Amon – The Eternal Nearly-Man
Mention the word luck in F1 and one name rises above all, Chris Amon, the New Zealander was competitive, he led almost 200 laps in his career, but he never won a race.
His cars seemed cursed with fragile engines, exploding fuel pumps and failing gearboxes, also his rival Mario Andretti once said, that if Chris was an undertaker, people would stop dying.
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Stirling Moss – The Gentleman Who Gave Away a Title
If Amon was the unluckiest race winner that never was, then Stirling Moss was the unluckiest champion that never was!
He collected 16 wins and four runner-up finishes in the championship standings but the crown always slipped away.
In 1958, Moss could have clinched the title but insisted officials overturn a penalty against rival Mike Hawthorn. That cost him the championship, by a single pint.
Nick Heidfeld – Always the Bridesmaid
Reliable, consistent, and quietly quick, Nick Heidfeld built a reputation as the man who would always bring the car home, but never in first place.
He scored 13 podiums, including eight second places, without ever converting one into victory, even when he bagged pole position or found himself inches away from glory, something always kept him off the top step.
History remembers him as the man who almost, made it.
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Andrea de Cesaris – The King of Retirements
Another driver on the list as one of the unluckiest drivers in F1 history, Andrea de Cesaris, with more than 200 starts, he never won a race.
Instead, he became infamous for retiring from them, he bowed out of 147 GPs before the flag, including absurd runs of 18 consecutive DNFs.
But many of those retirements were not his fault, cars often simply gave up, De Cesaris embodied the thin line between speed and survival.
Ronnie Peterson – The SuperSwede Cut Short
Some drivers are robbed of luck not by machinery but by fate, Ronnie Peterson, adored as the SuperSwede, was pure lightning on wheels.
He collected wins and twice finished runner-up, in the championship, but just as his career seemed peak, tragedy struck.
At Monza in 1978, after the crash, his story was ended far too soon, the talented driver who was capable of winning titles.
Dave Walker – When the Best Car Isn’t Enough
We don’t know if it he belongs to the list, but we believe that Dave Walker holds the dubious honor of being the only driver to complete a full F1 season without scoring a point in a car that won the title.
While Emerson Fittipaldi drove the Lotus 72 to championship glory in 1972, Walker never even made it into the top six.
Felipe Massa – The Champion for 30 Seconds
Few images in F1 history sting quite like Felipe Massa weeping on the podium in Brazil 2008, he completes the list about the unluckiest drivers in F1 history.
For a brief, glorious moment, he was world champion, until Hamilton snatched fifth place on the final corner of the final lap, when he passed Timo Glock, taking the title by a single point.
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More Than Just Bad Luck
For every Hamilton or Schumacher who rode destiny to greatness, there is an Amon, Moss, or Massa who had the talent but not the luck.
Sometimes, the cruelest truth is that being the best is not enough.
