5 Times F1 Drivers Swapped Seats With Each Other

Schumacher pulled some excellent wins out of the bag despite his poor Ferrari in 1996.
Schumacher pulled some excellent wins out of the bag despite his poor Ferrari in 1996.

#4 Fernando Alonso and Heiki Kovalainen, 2008

Alonso and Hamilton endured an infamous season together at McLaren in 2007.
Alonso and Hamilton endured an infamous season together at McLaren in 2007.

After Fernando Alonso lost his F1 crown at the end of the 2007 season and he'd wrecked his relationship with both Lewis Hamilton and McLaren, it was time to move on. The Spaniard returned to Renault for 2008, with Heiki Kovalainen, after the latter had impressed everybody in his debut F1 season. Alonso never hit the heights he did before with the Enstone outfit, thanks to a lackluster car, although he did manage a pair of race wins in 2008, one a lot more controversial than the other.

Kovalainen had a decent first year with McLaren, doing good work to help Hamilton win his first F1 title, and the Finn won his first race in Hungary during the same year. However, his career deteriorated rapidly from there, a poor season in 2009, coupled with the prospect of McLaren signing world champions Jenson Button saw Heiki exit working for 2010, where he was signed by Lotus, a team that never scored any points in the sport.

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