From Schumacher to Vettel: Six of the best replacement driver debuts

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  • Stoffel Vandoorne will deputise for the injured Fernando Alonso in the Bahrain Grand Prix and here F1 expert Chris Medland takes a look at six other replacement driver debuts.

    Are there any Chris has missed? If so tweet us using #360Fans!

    MICHAEL SCHUMACHER

    The most successful driver in the history of F1 only got his chance as a replacement driver for Jordan in 1991. Having impressed in junior categories, Schumacher was actually affiliated with Sauber – then yet to enter the sport – when Bertrand Gachot was imprisoned for an altercation with a London taxi driver. The plight of the Belgian was unexpected – he was later released after an appeal – and left Jordan needing a replacement for the Belgian Grand Prix at short notice.

    Schumacher’s hat was thrown in to the ring and he impressed Jordan with a shakedown test, before his manager insisted the German knew Spa-Francorchamps well, omitting the fact that he had never raced there. In the competitive Jordan 191, Schumacher immediately caught the eye with an impressive qualifying performance to take seventh on the grid and out qualify team-mate Andrea de Cesaris by 0.7s.

    The race sadly saw Schumacher retire on the opening lap after his clutch overheated, but he had already done enough to impress many in the F1 paddock and found himself snapped up by Benetton by the next race in Monza.

    JEAN ALESI

    Alesi’s first chance in Formula 1 resulted in a fairytale result for the French driver. During the 1989 season, Tyrrell signed Camel as a sponsor and told its driver Michele Alboreto to drop his backing from rival brand Marlboro. A dispute followed which saw Alboreto leave the team, and team owner Ken Tyrrell turned to F3000 driver Alesi.

    The Frenchman was handed his F1 debut at his home race at Paul Ricard, with the Tyrrell a competitive car which had already scored a podium courtesy of Alboreto in Mexico. Alesi qualified in 16th place but was only a respectable 0.6s slower than team-mate Jonathan Palmer. The race was restarted after a dramatic first lap crash, with Palmer involved in a second incident himself.

    Alesi steered clear of trouble and ran as high as second at one stage before crossing the line in fourth place.

    Having had a relatively disappointing F3000 career to that point, Alesi was only handed a two-race contract at the time. His performance in France saw him signed full-time by Tyrrell, though he was allowed to complete his second year in F3000 – duly winning the title – before enjoying a long F1 career which included stints at Ferrari, Benetton and Prost.

    Jean Alesi drives the #4 Tyrrell Racing car.

    Jean Alesi drives the #4 Tyrrell Racing car.

    SEBASTIAN VETTEL

    While Vettel is remembered as a Red Bull junior driver, he actually made his grand prix debut driving for Sauber. Vettel was named as Sauber’s third driver in 2006 and duly made his mark by setting fastest times during Friday practice appearances, earning him the test driver role for 2007.

    Robert Kubica’s spectacular crash in the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix saw the Polish driver ruled out of the following round at Indianapolis, and Vettel – with plenty of practice experience behind him – was called up to make his debut in Kubica’s place. At the age of just 19 years old, Vettel made it through to Q3 and took seventh on the grid, two places behind his experienced team-mate Nick Heidfeld.

    Vettel showed his inexperience with an error at the start of the race as he ran wide at Turn 1, losing a number of positions but escaping damage. The young German then delivered an impressive recovery drive to score a point in eighth place, crossing the line directly behind sixth-placed Jarno Trulli and future Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber. It wasn’t until the Hungarian Grand Prix – four rounds later – that Vettel would appear again, this time as a full-time Toro Rosso driver.

    KAMUI KOBAYASHI

    After a false start, Kobayashi made a big impression once he got the chance to make his F1 debut.

    The Toyota protege was very nearly able to follow Jean Alesi’s lead and make his first appearance at his home race but regulations scuppered his hopes. Having taken part in FP1 at Suzuka in 2009, Kobayashi was present when Timo Glock crashed heavily in qualifying and was ruled out of the race.

    Toyota wanted Kobayashi to replace Glock, but the FIA blocked the move as the Japanese driver had not taken part in qualifying himself. Glock was ruled out for the rest of the season and Kobayashi got his chance as a replacement at the next race in Brazil. With Jenson Button going for the title, Kobayashi showed his spectacular racing style to fight with the championship leader for sixth place before eventually fading to finish ninth.

    Kobayashi had caught the eye – Button jokingly describing him as “crazy” after their battle – and retained his seat for the final round in Abu Dhabi, where he scored his first points in sixth place.

    Toyota pulled out of the sport at the end of the season but Sauber had been impressed and snapped him up for 2010.

    ROBERT KUBICA

    One of the lost talents of F1, Kubica can thank a heavy crash for 1997 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve for giving him his first chance to race. Kubica was named as reserve driver at BMW Sauber in 2006, and had seen Villeneuve crash relatively heavily at the final corner during the German Grand Prix. With the Hungarian Grand Prix taking place just one week later, the official line was Villeneuve was unfit to race, though the Canadian claimed BMW wanted to test Kubica in a race environment.

    Either way, Villeneuve was out and Kubica got the nod for the race at the Hungaroring. As Poland’s first F1 driver, there was plenty of attention regarding his debut and he duly delivered in qualifying to beat his experienced team-mate Nick Heidfeld by 0.4s in Q2 to earn himself a spot in Q3, where he eventually qualified tenth.

    The race was a chaotic affair remembered for Jenson Button’s first grand prix victory. Kubica spun during the opening laps in wet conditions and suffered a second spin later on which saw him wipe the front wing off his car. In a race where experience proved crucial – the top three ended up consisting of Button, Pedro de la Rosa and Heidfeld – Kubica recovered well and crossed the line seventh to score points on debut. However, heavily worn tyres meant he was underweight at the flag and later disqualified. BMW had seen the potential, however, and Kubica secured the seat full-time.

    MARKUS WINKELHOCK

    While the rest of the drivers in this list went on to have impressive F1 careers – all scoring at least a podium – Winkelhock was unable to retain his seat despite a remarkable debut. Having finished third in World Series by Renault in 2005, the German secured the reserve role at Midland F1 for 2006. Midland became Spyker a year later, with Winkelhock remaining with the team.

    Uncertainty over Christijan Albers’ sponsorship saw Albers dropped ahead of the European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring and Winkelhock was promoted into a race seat. With rain threatening ahead of the start of the race, Spyker put Winkelhock on intermediate tyres while the majority of the field started on slicks. A huge downpour immediately saw cars sliding off all over the track on the first lap and resulted in Winkelhock opening up a lead of over half a minute before the safety car was deployed.

    The torrential rain saw the race suspended for a spell, with Winkelhock’s lead completed erased.

    When the race resumed the uncompetitive Spyker predictably went backwards, with the 27-year- old then retiring after 15 laps. Despite his spell at the front of the field on debut, Winkelhock was not retained by Spyker and so boasts a record of leading 100% of his F1 starts.

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