Top 10 Formula 1 drivers who never finished on the podium

Paul di Resta, Adrian Sutil and Nico Hulkenberg

In Formula 1 there have been several drivers who have conquered the sport through their talent and hard work and their names are now etched forever in the history books. But there are also some drivers who, while they abound in such attributes, could never truly fulfill their potential on the track due to a series of bad luck.

Below is a look at the top 10 drivers who had plenty of talent but could not achieve a podium finish during their career (as of May 2014).

1. Nico Hulkenberg – As of now, Hulkenberg is probably the best driver of all time to have never stood on a podium. After several eyebrow-raising performances in less competitive teams and after almost five years in Formula 1, he still hasn’t got a drive with a race-winning team.

2. Paul di Resta – Although enjoying a successful three-year stint with Force India, di Resta was left without a drive after the 2013 season.

3. Adrian Sutil – Sutil currently is the most experienced driver ever in the sport, with more than 100 starts, to have never achieved a podium finish. The major reason for this is the fact that the whole of his career has been spent with mid-field teams, who seldom have competitive cars.

4. Pedro Diniz – Although a pay driver, Diniz has given several fine performances. In 1997, partnering Damon Hill, he outqualified him at the French, Japanese and Belgian Grands Prix and also achieved his best finish of fifth position at Lumembourg that year. Also, driving for Sauber in 1999, he outscored his more experienced teammate Jean Alesi.

5. Karl Wendlinger – During his F1 career Wendlinger was notable for putting himself in points positions several times even though his cars were not competitive enough. His best results are three fourth place finishes which he achieved at Montreal, Monza and Imola.

6. Christian Fittipaldi – Nephew of legendary F1 driver Emerson Fittipaldi, after a successful junior Formula career, Christian graduated to Formula 1 in 1992 with Minardi. In his short F1 career, he was impressive in several races with career-best fourth place finishes in three races.

7. Alex Zanardi – From 1991 to 1994, Zanardi spent his time with uncompetitive teams and then left F1 to join the Champ Car Series where he won the championship. This intrigued Frank Williams who then signed him on to his team for the 1999 season. Sadly, Zanardi was not able to properly adapt to the car which resulted in underwhelming performances and thus a partnership which could have paid dividends for both could not fully materialize. This was also a loss for F1 as it lost a great talent.

8. Erik Comas – French Formula 3 Champion and Formula 3000 champion, Comas joined Ligier with whom he scored several points in 1992. After two disappointing seasons in the succeeding years, he left Formula 1 to race in Japan.

9. Bertrand Gachot – Gachot couldn’t fulfill his potential in F1 due to spending most of his career with inexperienced and uncompetitive teams although he did impress with several points finishes during his brief time at the Jordan F1 team in 1991.

10. Mauro Baldi – Baldi made it to Formula 1 in 1982 after winning the European Formula Three Championship. After decent performances with Arrows and Alfa Romeo, he spent his last two years in the sport with the uncompetitive Spirit Racing team before finally leaving for sports car racing in which he found much success.