Formula One has its own laws: famous examples of high-flyers in the junior motor racing classes who failed in the Grand Prix scene
Sometimes a racing driver is preceded by a reputation as an up-and-coming world champion. This is because, for example, he has impressed in the junior classes and won a series of titles. But then he gets to Formula 1 and – nothing happens. The “magic” fizzles out and the expected success simply doesn’t materialize.
In our new photo series, we tell the stories of promising Formula 1 talents who unexpectedly stumbled. Because after only two Grands Prix in the 2025 season, it looks like Liam Lawson is the next young man destined for greater things. Now he faces the prospect of being dropped from Red Bull as Max Verstappen’s teammate.
Verstappen’s father Jos Verstappen was once predicted a successful future in Formula 1. He had won the German Formula 3 in 1993 and thus secured his Grand Prix ticket, at least as a test driver at Benetton. When regular driver JJ Lehto had to take a break due to injury, Verstappen was allowed to prove himself against Michael Schumacher for ten races.
The results spoke against Verstappen: in ten races, he made it into the top three twice, but Schumacher was much more successful in the Benetton B194 and won his first world championship title at the end of the season.
While Schumacher’s star was just beginning to rise, Verstappen’s career was already beginning to decline: from then on, he only got cockpits with teams from the middle or backfield of Formula 1 and in seven more seasons until 2003, he scored fewer points overall than in his part-time season with Benetton in 1994. It was only his son Max who entered the Verstappens in the Formula 1 winners list.
Or Sebastien Bourdais: In 2002, he had won the Formula 3000, the junior class directly below Formula 1. Nevertheless, it did not work out for him with the Grand Prix debut.
Bourdais made a virtue out of necessity and switched to America: from 2003, he competed in the US ChampCar series and won the drivers’ title four times in a row from 2004 to 2007. With these successes under his belt, he ventured a second attempt at a Formula 1 cockpit for the 2008 season – and was brought to Toro Rosso by Red Bull.
There, Bourdais had to deal with the young Sebastian Vettel. And Vettel thoroughly outclassed Bourdais: he surprisingly took pole position and won the race in Monza, while Bourdais only managed two seventh places in the whole of 2008. Bourdais was given a second chance in 2009, but by the halfway point of the season, it was all over and his Formula One career was over.
