10 F1 drivers who left teams at the worst time

Sebastian Vettel could have been one of Max Verstappen’s closest rivals this season.
During his two years with Aston Martin, Vettel stood on the podium twice (one of those podium finishes taken away shortly after) when everything fell right but the car was usually at the lower end of F1’s midfield, with the team finishing seventh of 10 in the constructors’ standings in both 2021 and 2022.
Then just as Vettel exits the team, Aston Martin takes a huge stride forward with Vettel’s replacement Fernando Alonso scooping three straight podiums at the start of 2023 and becoming the Red Bull drivers’ closest rival in the points standings.
While Vettel had his off-track reasons and had already achieved so much with 53 wins and 57 poles alongside his quartet of titles, you can’t help but wonder if the timing of his exit from the team was one of the most unfortunate in F1 history.
That got us thinking about previous F1 champions or race winners from the last 40 years who left a team – whether it be through their own choice like Vettel or against their wishes – right before it made a big performance leap and produced considerably more competitive machinery.

00:00 Number 10
00:53 Number 9
01:38 Number 8
02:36 Number 7
03:21 Number 6
04:21 Number 5
05:29 Number 4
06:12 Number 3
07:09 Number 2
08:00 Number 1

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