A history of substitute drivers in Formula One

In 2011 Nick Heidfeld will act as a substitute for Robert Kubica in the Renault Formula One team. The drive is a great opportunity for the 35 year old German who would otherwise have spent the year in Mercedes’ simulator, and he has acknowledged as much by saying “It was a very tough situation, but now that I have the chance, I’m going to try to take it.”

Over the last 60 years many drivers have been drafted into one of the sport’s leading teams to stand-in for an absent competitor. For a variety of reasons some of those drivers were unable to make an impression during their short-term promotion. Luca Badoer is a recent example after failing to capitalise on a dream ride with Ferrari in 2009, and Formula One history is littered with many who share a similar story.

On the flip side of the coin there are drivers who have risen to the occasion, or have found themselves in the right place at the right time, and have used a substitute drive with a major team to launch or completely revitalise their careers.

1950 – Dorino Serafini – Ferrari

Although Ferrari often rotated their drivers in the early years of Formula One, they were expecting Luigi Villoresi to compete for them in the 1950 Italian Grand Prix until he broke his leg and suffered head injuries during a non-championship race in Geneva. One of Ferrari’s sportscar drivers, Dorino Serafini, was recruited into the Grand Prix team for the final race of the championship season at Monza and he didn’t disappoint. Serafini qualified well and took advantage of the high attrition rate to be fighting for second place at the midpoint of the Grand Prix. Ferrari’s lead driver, Alberto Ascari, had pulled out of the race at this stage with technical difficulties, meaning Serafini was asked to hand his car over to Ascari in the pits. Although Serafini might have finished in second had he raced till the end, Ascari made sure of it, and both drivers were credited with the result.

Enzo Ferrari was impressed with Dorino’s performance and awarded him a contract to compete in more Formula One events the following year. Sadly, Serafini was badly injured in the 1951 Mille Miglia and never got to take part in another championship Grand Prix. Although he was unlucky not to race again, he made the most of the opportunity when it was given to him.

1958 – Phil Hill – Ferrari

Despite spending several years racing successfully for Ferrari’s sportscar team, Phil Hill was frustratingly overlooked by Enzo when opportunities were available in the Grand Prix squad. This changed in 1958 when the Scuderia’s regular drivers, Luigi Musso and Peter Collins, were tragically killed in the French and German Grands Prix respectively. Hill was brought into the team at Monza where he scored an impressive podium on debut, and backed this up with another third place at the next event in Morocco. On that occasion he helped Ferrari’s main driver, Mike Hawthorn, seal the World Championship by letting him finish ahead in second position.

Thanks to these efforts Hill was signed to the Ferrari Grand Prix team full-time in 1959, and went on to become World Champion in 1961.

1965 – Denny Hulme – Brabham

Denny Hulme made his Grand Prix debut for Brabham in the 1965 Monaco Grand Prix as a substitute for Dan Gurney who was racing in the Indianapolis 500. Hulme had impressed Jack Brabham with his performances in Formula 2, and did well enough in Gurney’s car at Monaco to be called back into the team as a replacement for Brabham himself two races later.

It seems likely that Hulme would’ve eventually been given a Formula One contract with Brabham, even if he hadn’t stood in for Gurney, but he accelerated his chances with a strong showing as a substitute and was World Champion within two years of joining the team.

1968 – Richard Attwood – BRM

Richard Attwood spent most of his racing career in sportscars (and has taken outright victory at Le Mans) but made sporadic appearances in Formula One throughout the mid sixties. Early in 1968 he was given his most competitive Grand Prix drive at BRM as a replacement for Mike Spence who had been tragically killed in practice for the Indianapolis 500.

Attwood made an immediate impression at Monaco in his first race with the team by finishing just two seconds behind Graham Hill’s winning Lotus. Richard had also set the fastest lap during the race, making it BRM’s best result of the year. Despite this achievement, Attwood was unable to forge a consistent career in Formula One. In fact, he was dropped by BRM before the 1968 season ended after a string of disappointing results. However, not many people can say they finished second at Monaco and pushed Graham Hill hard in the process.

The following year, Jochen Rindt broke his nose in a crash during the Spanish Grand Prix and left a vacant seat at Team Lotus for the next round in Monaco. Attwood’s performance in 1968 had attracted the attention of Colin Chapman who gave him another one-off chance in the principality. Attwood made the most of it and finished a very respectable fourth at a time when he was largely focussing on sportscars. It turned out to be his last championship race in a Formula One car.

1970 – François Cevert – Tyrrell

In a situation similar to Robert Kubica’s, Tyrrell driver Johnny Servoz Gavin had an off-road accident in the winter before the 1970 season and injured his eye. He was able to take part in the first three races of the year but found that he couldn’t see as well as before and decided to retire. Tyrrell made a decision to promote François Cevert from Formula 2 into the team alongside Jackie Stewart, giving the Frenchman a golden opportunity. Cevert became Stewart’s protégée and was able to learn many skills from one of the sport’s great masters over the following three years.

Sadly, Cevert never got to live to his full potential as he was killed in a practice accident before the 1973 United States Grand Prix. He would have taken over from Jackie Stewart and become Tyrrell’s team leader the following year.

1977 – Hans Joachim Stuck – Brabham

Hans Joachim Stuck (the son of a Grand Prix driver with the same name) took part in 35 Formula One races for March Engineering in the mid seventies. In 1977 he was given a chance with the more competitive Brabham outfit in tragic circumstances after Carlos Pace was killed in a light aircraft accident.

Bernie Ecclestone owned Brabham at the time and brought Stuck into the team alongside John Watson. Although the car wasn’t a race winner, Stuck performed admirably and took a pair of third places in the German and Austrian Grands Prix. He also finished ahead of Watson in the championship, but despite making the most of his opportunity, was unable to stay with Brabham in 1978 because Ecclestone had signed reigning World Champion Niki Lauda.

Stuck moved to the Shadow Grand Prix team but only finished in the points on two more occasions.

1982 – Patrick Tambay and Mario Andretti – Ferrari

1982 was a terribly sobering year for Grand Prix racing, and for Ferrari in particular. In addition to the horrific death of Gilles Villeneuve, the team also lost Didier Pironi in a dreadful accident that destroyed his legs and ended his career.

Ferrari initially ran just one car after Villeneuve’s death, but eventually replaced the popular Canadian with Patrick Tambay who was out of work in F1 and racing in the Can Am series. Tambay took a commanding victory in his fourth race for Ferrari and scored two other podiums before the year was over. He completed a full season with the team in 1983 and scored another victory on his way to fourth place in the championship. Tambay’s performances caught the attention of Renault who signed him in 1984.

Mario Andretti also drove for Ferrari in 1982 as a replacement for Didier Pironi. Andretti was focussed on his racing exploits in the USA having walked away from F1 the year before, but couldn’t resist the chance to drive for Ferrari one last time. In his first of two races back with the team Andretti took an emotional pole position on the Scuderia’s home circuit at Monza, and although he didn’t win the race, he did finish on the podium. It provided Andretti with an impressive footnote to his successful Grand Prix career.

1987 – Riccardo Patrese – Williams

Riccardo Patrese made his Grand Prix debut in 1977 but had to spend ten years in the sport before getting his chance with a genuine front-running team.

During qualifying for the 1987 Japanese Grand Prix, Nigel Mansell crashed heavily in the Suzuka esses and injured his back. Patrese was signed by Williams for the final race of the year at Adelaide and was able to convince the team to offer him a full-time contract alongside Mansell in 1988. Patrese then stayed with Williams for five years during which time he took 23 podiums and finished second in the 1992 World Championship.

1991 – Michael Schumacher – Jordan

In August 1991 an altercation with a taxi driver in London had a significant impact on Grand Prix history. Bertrand Gachot was competing for Jordan in Formula One that year but was jailed for two months after a minor traffic accident during which he sprayed illegal ‘CS gas’ at a cab driver. Eddie Jordan had to find a replacement at short notice and accepted a cheque from Mercedes to put their sportscar protégé, Michael Schumacher, in the car.

Schumacher qualified a brilliant seventh on his debut at Spa Francorchamps and could have won the race had he not blown his clutch at the start. Other teams had seen enough to be impressed and Benetton signed Schumacher to a long-term contract before the very next race.

Formula One history might have taken a very different shape had Schumacher made his debut with Sauber Mercedes in 1993 as originally planned.

1994 – Nicola Larini – Ferrari

The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix will always be remembered for the tragic accidents that claimed the lives of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna. Although the race itself is not significant in the context of the horror weekend, it did produce a surprise on the podium.

Jean Alesi didn’t take part in the Grand Prix, or the race before in Aida, after suffering a back injury in testing. Ferrari gave Alesi’s car to their reserve driver, Nicola Larini, who benefitted from the attrition at Imola to score an unexpected second place.

Although Larini’s podium was not enough to earn him a race drive with another team in 1995, he did score a podium for Ferrari in front of their loyal tifosi which is a special achievement for any driver – particularly an Italian.

1994 – David Coulthard – Williams

The death of Ayrton Senna left a gaping hole at Williams in 1994, and after entering just one car in the Monaco Grand Prix, the team recruited Formula 3000 rookie David Coulthard. The young Scot impressed the team by running in sixth place on debut before retiring with mechanical gremlins. At the next Grand Prix in Montreal, David raced ahead of his team leader, Damon Hill, in the early stages and scored his first World Championship points. Coulthard’s early performances led to a 1995 contract with Williams and he went on to build a successful career in Formula One with McLaren and Red Bull.

1999 – Mika Salo – Ferrari

The start of 1999 was not particularly smooth for Mika Salo. He was contracted to race with Arrows but was unceremoniously sacked by Tom Walkinshaw’s team just weeks before the new season began. He was left without an F1 drive but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Ricardo Zonta injured his foot in a nasty crash during practice for the second round of the year in Brazil and was forced to miss three races. Mika Salo was drafted into British American Racing as his temporary replacement and fared well alongside Jacques Villeneuve at a time when the 1997 World champion was still highly rated. Salo scored the team’s best finish of the year before his role as a super-sub at BAR became a springboard for something much bigger.

When Michael Schumacher broke his leg in the 1999 British Grand Prix, Ferrari sought Mika Salo’s services given his availability and race fitness. His first weekend with the Scuderia was not spectacular after he qualified four places behind new teammate Eddie Irvine, and damaged his front wing on the first lap. Salo’s second race was far more impressive and it became the performance that defined his entire career.

Salo outqualified Irvine at Hockenheim and took second place in the opening stages after making a barnstorming start. He then inherited first place when Mika Hakkinen’s leading McLaren hit trouble, and would’ve gone on to claim victory had he not been asked to gift Irvine the win in support of Ferrari’s World Championship chances.

Salo scored another podium for Ferrari at Monza, three places ahead of Irvine, and used his performances to secure a new contract with Sauber for the 2000 season.

2006 – Robert Kubica – BMW

Jacques Villeneuve was never popular with BMW management who reluctantly inherited the Canadian’s contract as part of their Sauber buyout in 2005. When Villeneuve injured his back at Hockenheim partway through the ’06 season, BMW jumped at the chance to replace him with Robert Kubica, their reserve driver. Kubica shone on his debut in the wet Hungarian Grand Prix, despite having never driven an F1 car in the rain before, and scored an unlikely podium in just his third race at Monza. With such strong performances BMW were able to justify making Villeneuve’s absence a permanent one, and Kubica has since gone on to become one of the sport’s leading drivers.

2009 – Kamui Kobayashi – Toyota

Kamui Kobayashi enjoyed a fairly mediocre GP2 career and was never expected to reach Formula One without the corporate support of Toyota. He made his Grand Prix debut when Timo Glock was injured during qualifying for the 2009 Japanese Grand Prix, and although expectations were low, Kobayashi instantly set the F1 world alight. His charging performances in the Brazilian and Abu Dhabi races were enough to attract the attention of Peter Sauber who proudly signed him for 2010. Kobayashi was retained by Sauber this year and has since become a cult hero after some fighting drivers through the midfield.

Acting as a substitute with a top team isn’t always beneficial for a driver’s career. Luca Badoer’s time at Ferrari is a recent illustration of a dream opportunity turning into a nightmare, and other drivers have faced difficulties in a similar role. Mike Spence is one such example. He was given a plumb seat with Lotus towards the end of 1964 when the team’s regular driver, Peter Arundell, was seriously injured. Although Spence earned a contract for 1965 he was completely overshadowed by Jim Clark in the sister Lotus and dropped by the team. Spence was a very talented driver but was never able to prove his worth in Clark’s shadow.

It’s also worth noting that some drivers found their temporary promotion made no impact on their career path at all, regardless of how well they performed. For example, Jim Clark made his debut with Lotus in 1962 as a replacement for John Surtees who was racing in the Isle of Man TT. This was a great opportunity for Clark, but Team Lotus ran six drivers that year and Clark would have been one of them at some point anyway. The same can be said of Sebastian Vettel who made his F1 debut filling in for Robert Kubica at BMW. Again, it was a great chance for Vettel to compete in his first Grand Prix, but he would have entered the sport with Scuderia Toro Rosso later in the year regardless so it ultimately had little influence on his career.

Nick Heidfeld will become the seventh driver on the 2011 grid who has acted as a short-term replacement for someone else, and like several of those before him, he will be hoping to make the most of the opportunity.