Contracted F1 drivers who never got to race

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dr-baker
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Re: Contracted F1 drivers who never got to race

Post by dr-baker »

giraurd wrote:http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108789

Sirotkin does qualify, since Sauber announced he will be in the race seat - you always forget the most obvious ones, so thanks for reminding dr-baker!

I knew he was set for a race seat! I didn't think I had imagined it! Thanks for confirming it, Giraurd!
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Barbazza
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Re: Contracted F1 drivers who never got to race

Post by Barbazza »

novitopoli wrote:Fulvio Maria Ballabio was expected to race for Spirit in 1984 alongside Fittipaldi (who had then refused to race for the team). He was denied the superlicence though and replaced by fellow Italian Mauro Baldi.

The funny thing was that his sponsorship money came from Disney. He also appeared in a Disney comic (under the name of Fulvio Maria Palladio) alongside Uncle Scrooge and Donald Duck, whom he showed how to drive a F1 car...


Ah, so *that's* why all the pictures of the Spirit in the Grand Prix International Season Preview magazine that year had Topolino (or Mickey Mouse if you prefer!) logos all over the car!

I've wondered about that for years, thanks for finally solving that one!!
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Bobby Doorknobs
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Re: Contracted F1 drivers who never got to race

Post by Bobby Doorknobs »

While I was searching Stats F1 to help me complete the definitive rejects list I came across more drivers who never got to race:

Joaquin Palacio - Privately entered a Maserati for the 1951 Spanish GP, but didn't arrive.
Hans Blees - Privately entered an AFM for the 1953 German GP but never showed up.
Adolf Lang - Was entered for the same race in both a Veritas and an AFM, but like Blees, was not present.
Mauritz von Strachwitz - Another 1953 German GP entry in his own MSM-Lancia. He couldn't go because he had his driver's licence revoked earlier in the year due to a traffic accident.
Piero Valenzano - Entered by Lancia for the 1955 Belgian GP before they withdrew from the sport.
Mike Oliver - Supposed to drive for Connaught in the 1956 British GP. Never showed up.
Keith Campbell - The 1957 350cc motorcycle champion had a Maserati entered for the 1958 Monaco GP but for some reason never showed.
Brian Whitehouse - Entered in a Cooper by a Mr. Bernard C. Ecclestone at Monaco in 1959. He never arrived.
Brian Raubenheimer - Entered a Lotus for the 1965 South African GP but couldn't afford an engine.
Tony Jefferies - Entered in an old Cooper T55 by Scuderia Scribante in the 1968 South African GP but there was some sort of engine trouble.
Keith St. John - Supposed to drive a privately entered McLaren M2B at Monaco but the car was unavailable.
Tony Lanfranchi - Lanfranchi was entered for two races: the 1968 British GP in a works BRM, and the 1969 Canadian GP in a Cooper entered by Falken Racing. He never showed up to either round.
Werner Bickel - Almost no information exists on this driver, other than that he was entered in a BRM by the equally mysterious UTA Racing Organisation (not related to the Formula SAE team AFAIK) in the 1970 Spanish GP.
Ray Allen - Drove mainly in non-championship races. Entered the 1971 British GP in a March 711, but withdrew because of financial problems.
Herbert Müller - A sportscar driver who was supposed to drive a privately entered Lotus at Monza in 1971 but withdrew after the death of Pedro Rodríguez.
Giancarlo Gigliardi - Was supposed to drive the new Politoys for Williams at Monza in 1972, but Henri Pescarolo destroyed the car at Brands Hatch and it was never repaired.
John McNicol - Entered in a Lotus by Scuderia Scrbante at South Africa in 1974, but the team couldn't afford to bring a second car.
Manfred Mohr - Entered in the 1974 German GP in a Brabham owned by Scuderia Finotto.
Jean-Louis Lafosse - Born in Senegal, this French sportscar driver was also supposed to drive the Scuderia Finotto Brabham at Monza in 1974, but his entry was refused by the organisers.
Néstor García-Veiga - Part of the failed Argentine Berta F1 project. Was entered for the South American rounds of 1975 but the team had to withdraw because they had no engines.
Ewald Boisitz - Bought himself a Surtees drive for Austria in 1975. His financial input was not of much use to the team and they ended up keeping the car as a spare for John Watson.
Antonio Bernardo - Swiss driver entered in the 1976 Belgian GP in an Ensign N174, but the team's new N176 was not ready until the last minute and so the N174 was retained by the team as a spare for Chris Amon.
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Waris
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Re: Contracted F1 drivers who never got to race

Post by Waris »

I'm pretty sure there was a Swedish driver by the name of Erik Lundgren who entered his self-built Ford special in one race in 1951 (was it the German GP?) but DNA for some reason.
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Bobby Doorknobs
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Re: Contracted F1 drivers who never got to race

Post by Bobby Doorknobs »

Waris wrote:I'm pretty sure there was a Swedish driver by the name of Erik Lundgren who entered his self-built Ford special in one race in 1951 (was it the German GP?) but DNA for some reason.

Check the first post. ;)
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Leyton House
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Re: Contracted F1 drivers who never got to race

Post by Leyton House »

Such a shame about Loeb. Would have loved to see him in F1, in my opinion he is in the top 10 drivers of all time F1 or not.

Didn't current V8 Supercar driver James Courtney have a contract with Jaguar until Red Bull bought them out? I must admit I'm not sure it was a race contract though, as Klien had a contract Red Bull honoured and DC (I had heard) actually originally signed with Jag before Red Bull came along.

I have an old F1 Racing mag from 1997 where Peter Windsor writes about a team he was trying to start, drivers were meant to be Gil de Ferran and Kenny Brack. If they got as far as contracts though I have no idea.
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Bobby Doorknobs
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Re: Contracted F1 drivers who never got to race

Post by Bobby Doorknobs »

Leyton House wrote:Such a shame about Loeb. Would have loved to see him in F1, in my opinion he is in the top 10 drivers of all time F1 or not.

Didn't current V8 Supercar driver James Courtney have a contract with Jaguar until Red Bull bought them out? I must admit I'm not sure it was a race contract though, as Klien had a contract Red Bull honoured and DC (I had heard) actually originally signed with Jag before Red Bull came along.

I have an old F1 Racing mag from 1997 where Peter Windsor writes about a team he was trying to start, drivers were meant to be Gil de Ferran and Kenny Brack. If they got as far as contracts though I have no idea.

Courtney was a test driver for Jaguar before suffering a terrible crash at Monza in 2002, which ended his F1 career.

That Peter Windsor effort I believe you are referring to is Ikuzawa, a 1994 team whose design was reportedly used by Stewart for the SF01. This article (in Portuguese) seems to suggest the two drivers were linked.
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Har1MAS1415
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Re: Contracted F1 drivers who never got to race

Post by Har1MAS1415 »

In more recent times, Giedo Van Der Garde with Sauber in 2015 and this year, Nikita Mazepin with Haas.
Alextrax52
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Re: Contracted F1 drivers who never got to race

Post by Alextrax52 »

While not entirely along the title of this thread, I think this video should be mentioned here: 10 times a driver split with a team before their contract ended

https://youtu.be/mGDQbuqFhFA
Har1MAS1415
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Re: Contracted F1 drivers who never got to race

Post by Har1MAS1415 »

Does Ross Cheever count? He was supposed to drive for AGS at one point, 1990 or 1991, something like that?
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