It seems there are drivers in formula one, who should have been formula one world champions. Let’s talk about a particular generation that we lost, and at this moment in time probably will not be world champions.
Daniel Riccardo, Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez, Kevin Magnussen. Only one of those four drivers currently races in one of the top three teams, and next season he won’t. What do all these drivers have in common? Well they all came into F1 around the same time, they all came into F1 between 2011-2014. (Yes the Hulk entered in 2010 but he was dropped and came back in 2012) They all go into the lost world champions generation.
All four of the drivers entered formula one with a rather large amount of hype. Hulkenberg was meant to be the next thing for Ferrari. Perez was also in the Ferrari academy. Riccardo he beat the one and only Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull. Magnussen, he was the son of an ex formula one driver. They all came in with different expectations and also different teams.
Nico Hulkenberg, he’s a curious case. He’s never gotten a podium, he’s had one pole position and that is it. Hulkenberg is easily one of the best midfield drivers in the formula one field. For many fans, they want him to have a drive up in the top, but he considers himself to have missed that chance. Now at 31 it seems he’ll be stuck in the midfield.
Daniel Riccardo, he came into Red Bull after 4 double back-to-back world championships. So you’d expect him to have a world championship by now, he certainly thought he would. But the hybrid era kicked in and Mercedes, well, you already know that story- right?
Sergio Perez, did he have his chance already? He went to McLaren way too young, way too you and it turned him into this life of the midfield pack, since he left McLaren he has stayed at he same team since. We’ve all watched him at Force India and bought he’s deserved so much better. But he had the chance.
Kevin Magnussen, he was thrown straight into a team that were massive. But they were on there way down. He got Thrown into MCL and got a podium in his first race. Over time he’s seemed a driver that hasn’t impressed until this year.
These drivers all have potential. Or did have. But they almost came in at the wrong time. The guys who were racing in the 2000s they were still around, still fighting for titles.
Vettel, Hamilton, Räikkönen, Rosberg, Alonso and Webber they were the ones fighting for titles. Hamilton he was fighting for titles in the late 2000s. Alonso won titles in the mid 2000s.
They all joined F1 from 2000 onward. It seems they got lucky because they could have been a lost generation but they end up in a golden generations. Hamilton and Vettel, who thought we’d see the day where there would be a fight for 5 world titles, to equal the great Fangio. Both have been in F1 for over 10 years, and now they are at the very top.
This has left the four drivers I first mentioned, somewhat over looked. They have all been left to fight it out in the midfield and if they are lucky, they will grab a podium every once and a while.
You have to say Hulkenberg is the most tragic case out of them all. He went into formula one with so much hype around him, he would be Ferrari’s next champion, he has rumours surround him and a Ferrari seat, which never materialised. He’ll race alongside Riccardo next year, which you have to say is the most exciting line up of next year (only if Leclerc and Vettel doesn’t happen).
Perez, seen as one of the most underrated drivers on the grid and that is true, isn’t it? He got that chance with McLaren and hasn’t been considered at a big team since. The talent he possess is unreal, he’s brilliant that is for sure. But he’s been over looked
Due to Vettel, Hamilton, Räikkönen and Alonso all sticking around. It’s left no room for new guys to come and claim a championship or two. They’ve kept around and hogged the championships for sure.
Hulkenberg, Riccardo, Perez and Magnussen are the over looked generation. The new one has already infiltrated, and these guys are slowly fading to the back. The new generation of champions is already half way there. Verstappen and Gasly, they’ll be at the third place team next year, Charles Leclerc could be on his way to Ferrari. Norris is heading to McLaren and there are still other waiting in the wings.
They all lost there chance to be the world champion because of other people. They took up the best option, they took the best option to a win or championship. Now, now they soon won’t be able to fight for championships because the top teams will have the new faces in it.
It’s not, Hulkenberg, Riccardo, Magnussen it Perez’s fault. They were almost born and sent into F1 in the wrong time, the time where the dominance is real, the guys fighting now they came in when a different team won each year.
In F1 we’ve lost a generation of world champions but there is a new exciting one on the horizon, so please treasure it. Russell, Leclerc, Norris, Ocon, Gasly and Verstappen they are the new kids on the block and they are the guys to watch now. Unfortunately we lost them, but was it the worst thing to happen?
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