KINGS OF BAD LUCK IN F1:

Anyone who says that LUCK and BAD LUCK don't exist in F1, or that success comes exclusively from the work of the driver and the team, needs to learn more about the history of F1 and motorsport in general.

There have been many talented drivers in F1 who weren't in the right place at the right time, and some others who were in the right place at the right time, but due to unforeseen circumstances failed to become champions. Below is a small sample of these drivers:

STIRLING MOSS

Englishman Stirling Moss, after Juan Manuel Fangio, was the best driver of the 1950s, but when he had a car capable of winning the championship, without the Argentinian on the track, he had incredible bad luck and didn't become champion.

In 1958, during the Monaco Grand Prix, after an accident on the track, Mike Hawthorn drove on the wrong side of the road, but the track marshals did not disqualify him because Moss testified in favor of his compatriot. During the season, Moss had six retirements compared to Hawthorn's two, and they arrived at the last race of the year vying for the title. On the last lap of the Moroccan Grand Prix, on orders from Ferrari, Phil Hill ceded second place to Hawthorn. Moss won the race, but lost the title by 1 point.

In 1959, in the last race of the year, Moss needed to win with Jack Brabham in 3rd place. Moss took pole position with a 3-second lead over 2nd place and was comfortably leading the race when his transmission broke down. The most surprising thing about this is that Jack Brabham ran out of fuel on the last lap and finished 4th. In other words, if Stirling Moss hadn't broken down, he probably would have been the season champion.

In 1960, Moss suffered a serious accident, breaking his nose and both legs, which kept him out of 3 races. When he returned to racing, he achieved 6 consecutive pole positions, scored points in only 3 races, and finished in an excellent 3rd place in the championship, even after being disqualified in the Portuguese GP. If he hadn't missed those 3 races, he would have had a chance to at least compete for the title race by race with Jack Brabham.

Everything indicates that Stirling Moss would have been capable of becoming a three-time F1 champion, if so many unforeseen events hadn't occurred.os fortuitos.

DAN GURNEY

I dare say that Dan Gurney was a brilliant driver with the talent to be a Formula 1 champion. He defeated Jack Brabham within the Brabham team in 3 seasons; nobody defeats a world champion unless they are a special driver.

Gurney vs. Brabham in 1963:

Starts: 6x4

Finishes: 2x2

Points: 19x14

Gurney vs. Brabham in 1964:

Starts: 9x1

Finishes: 4x3

Points: 19x11

Gurney vs. Brabham in 1965:

Starts: 4x2

Finishes: 4x1

Points: 25x9

Just when Jack Brabham was about to build a championship-caliber car, Dan Gurney left the team. One wrong career choice, goodbye chance of being F1 champion... He certainly would have been champion in 1966 and 1967 if he had stayed with the Brabham team.

CHRIS AMON

New Zealander Chris Amon wasn't a genius like Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart, but he was a very good and fast driver. However, whenever he had a car capable of winning, something always happened and he lost the good result.

Monaco 67: He was in 2nd place when he had a flat tire and dropped to 3rd.
France 67: He was in 3rd place when the throttle cable broke.
USA 67: His engine broke down when he was in 2nd place.
Mexico 67: He ran out of fuel when he was in 2nd place.
Spain 68: His fuel pump fuse blew while he was leading.
Belgium 68: He took pole position but had a punctured radiator.
Italy 68: He was leading the race when he drove through an oil slick and crashed.
Canada 68: He was leading the race but his transmission broke down 18 laps from the end.
USA 68: His water pump broke down when he was in 3rd place.
Spain 69 broke down while leading the race by 41 seconds.
Monaco 69 broke down while in 2nd place.
Monaco 70 broke down while in 2nd place.
Italy 71 took pole position and was well positioned in the race when the visor of his helmet came loose, forcing him to slow down.
France 72: Amon was leading the race, but had problems at the end and finished 3rd.
Sweden 76: He was in 3rd place, ahead of Lauda in the Ferrari, when the front suspension broke and he crashed.

The facts above prove that Chris Amon would have had at least 5 F1 victories if he hadn't had so much bad luck.

TEO FABI

Teo Fabi was a fast driver who took pole position at the 1983 Indy 500 and 3 pole positions in F1. But surprisingly, in the 3 races where he took pole in F1, he didn't manage to lead a single lap in any of them

German GP 1985: started on pole, but Senna took the lead on lap 1. On lap 30 he retired with a broken clutch.
Austrian GP 1986: started on pole, but his teammate Berger took the lead, but retired on lap 30 with an engine problem.
Italian GP 1986: started on pole, but couldn't start the formation lap, and in the race the axle broke on lap 45.

The Italian made this list precisely because of the bad luck of having problems in all 3 races where he took pole position.

JEAN ALESI

Jean Alesi wasn't a genius like Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, and Nelson Piquet, but he was a talented driver who impressed F1 in 1989 and 1990 racing for the small Tyrrell team. Unfortunately, in 1991, he made the wrong choice by transferring to Ferrari when he had a pre-contract with Williams, and the English team would become the best F1 car in the following years. From that point on, his career stalled; he didn't have a car capable of competing for a world championship in F1.

Jean Alesi's misfortunes were many:

USA 91: broke down while in 3rd place.
Mexico 91: managed to run ahead of Mansell and Senna, but retired.
England 91: was running ahead of Prost, but crashed into a Larrouse and retired.
Belgium 91: was leading far ahead of Senna when his engine broke down.
Spain 91: had a great race in the rain and received a stop-and-go penalty, otherwise he would have finished 2nd.
Portugal 93: Alesi led the beginning of the race, but his car lost performance mid-race, finishing in 4th place.
Germany 94: had a good chance of doing well in the race (Berger was on pole and he was 2nd on the grid), but his engine broke down on the 1st lap.
Belgium 94: was in 2nd place, chasing Schumacher, when his engine broke down on lap 3.
Italy 94: took pole and led the race, but his clutch broke down in the pits.
Portugal 94: He was leading the race after Berger's retirement but crashed with Brabham when he was in 3rd place and had to retire from the race.
Spain 95: He was comfortably in 2nd place when his engine blew.
Monaco 95: He was the fastest in Thursday and Saturday morning practice, but his car broke down on Saturday and he was forced to do only one lap in qualifying. In the race, he collided with Coulthard and had to race with the reserve car. In the race, he was in 2nd place ahead of DH when he collided with Brundle while trying to lap the Englishman.
Belgium 95: He was leading comfortably on lap 5 when his car's suspension broke.
Italy 95: Alesi was leading the race when his car broke down.
Europe 95: Race in the rain, Alesi led several laps, but ran out of tires at the end and Schumacher caught up, passed him and won the race.
Japan 95: Race in the rain, he received a 10s stop-and-go penalty, passed DH on the outside under braking at the chicane, put on a show, but his transmission broke when he was in 2nd place and he retired.
Argentina 96: He had a great race, was in 2nd place, but his engine stalled in the pits, losing a lot of time (7 seconds) and he finished in 3rd place.
Monaco 96: Alesi was leading comfortably when he suffered a puncture 17 laps from the end, changed tires and then retired.
England 96: He retired after running part of the race in 2nd place with a brake problem.
Australia 97: Ran out of fuel while in 2nd place, despite having a good chance in the race.
Italy 97: Took pole position, was leading the race, but lost the victory due to a slow pit stop compared to DC's McLaren.
Monaco 98: Was in 5th place in the race with a Sauber and had a chance to finish higher when his gearbox broke. He even cried at the end of the race.
Austria 98: Qualified 2nd on the grid with the Sauber, but was leading the race when he crashed at the pit exit with Fisichella and retired.
Austria 99 was in a good 6th place with a Sauber when he ran out of fuel on lap 49 mid-race.
Belgium 2000: Had a fantastic race in the rain with Prost, starting 17th and reaching 3rd place, but retired due to lack of fuel and a burnt-out fuel pump.

If Chris Amon was the KING OF BAD LUCK in F1 during the 60s and 70s, then Jean Alesi was undoubtedly the KING OF BAD LUCK in the 90s.

HEINZ HARALD FRENTZEN

Frentzen made this list because of what happened in 9 of the 17 races in the 1997 season. These events involving the German driver went unnoticed by most of the F1 audience.

In 1997, the best car of the season was the Williams, and the title fight was between Villeneuve and Schumacher, but very little was said about the numerous misfortunes that prevented Heinz Harald Frentzen from competing for the title with Schumacher and Villeneuve.

Australia 97: He was leading the race, but the team made a very slow pit stop of 16 seconds. He then closed the gap to the race leader, but towards the end of the race his brakes failed when he was in 2nd place. Williams mistakenly fitted 28mm thick brakes when they should have fitted 32mm.
Brazil 97: He had a poor weekend due to a broken left front shock absorber, only discovered after the race.
Argentina 97: His clutch broke when he was in 2nd place.
Monaco 97: He took pole position, but spun out on the first lap due to the team's fault, which instructed Frentzen to start on slick tires in the rain.
Canada 97: He had tire blistering problems on lap 1 and had to change tires on lap 4. He was called in for a second tire change at the wrong time with a Safety Car on the track, returning to the back of the grid. He was recovering in the race when it was stopped due to Panis's accident, finishing 4th.
England 97: car stalled on the warm-up lap, started last and was taken out of the race on the first corner by Verstappen.
Germany 97: crashed at the start with Irvine, through no fault of his own.
Hungary 97: I was doing well in the hard tire race when there was a fuel leak at the fuel filler neck and the car caught fire.
Luxembourg 97: was involved in a commotion at the start, dropped to 12th place, but managed to finish 3rd.

Due to these misfortunes, Frentzen lost at least 40 points that season and could easily have fought for the championship.

Anyone who says that LUCK and BAD LUCK don't exist in F1, or that success comes exclusively from the work of the driver and the team, needs to learn more about the history of F1 and motorsport in general.

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There have been many talented drivers in F1 who weren't in the right place at the right time, and some others who were in the right place at the right time, but due to unforeseen circumstances failed to become champions. Below is a small sample of these drivers: