Top 5 Worst Performing Williams Grand Prix Drivers


Top 5 Worst Performing Williams Grand Prix Drivers
By Brian Cotnoir

Well I’ve been going after NASCAR drivers for quite some time now, so I figured it’s only fair that I start talking about Formula 1 drivers now.  This is going to be a new series I’m going to be writing for Sports Shorts, where I look at the Worst Performing drivers in the history of F1 teams (Past & Present).  Now, just because a driver makes this list doesn’t mean they’re necessarily a bad driver; they team could have been going through a slump, their bad season could have been caused by technical or engine problems, or it could have been during the teams early growing pains years.  So just keep stuff like that in mind.  I mean Michael Schumacher was the greatest driver of All-Time at both Benneton and Ferrari, but when he came out of retirement to drive for Mercedes, he accomplished next to nothing with them.

So I decided to start out with one of the Best and Most Successful teams in Formula 1 History; Williams Grand Prix, which as of late has been going through quite a slump, but hopefully they’ll rebound out of it soon.

5.)  Jacques Laffite, 3 Seasons, O Wins, 22 Total Points, Best Points Finish of 11th

Laffite is the only driver on this list that drove for both the original Franks Williams Racing and Frank Williams Grand Prix Racing.   Laffite was a part of the growing pain seasons at Williams so the fact that he scored some points in those seasons is probably the best he could have hoped for


4.)  Bruno Senna, 1 Season, 0 Wins, 31 Total Points, Final Points Finish 16th

He certainly wasn’t as successful as his more famous Uncle, but Bruno Senna still managed to get some points for Williams.


3.)  Kazuki Nakajima, 2 Seasons, 9 Total Points, Highest Points Finish 15th

Nakajima ran for Wiliams during their disastrous partnership with Toyota.  Nakajima only ran 2 seasons in Formula 1 with Williams.  He scored 9 points in his first season, but failed to score any in his second, and was typically outshined by his more successful teammate, Nico Rosberg.

Ar least Rosberg turned out to be successful

2.)  Sergey Sirotkin, 1 Season, 1 Total Point, Final Points Finish 20th

Russian driver Sergey Sirotkin is one of the most recent drivers who failed to live up to expectations for Williams.  In his only season with the team, he only scored one point with a 10th place finished at the 2018 Italian Grand Prix, and the only reason he got that point was because Romain Grosjean got disqualified after finishing 6th place.

He was never cut out for F1

1.)  Alex Zanardi, 1 Season , 0 Points

Alex Zanardi was a CART/Indycar Legend before his career was tragically cut short in an unfortunate racing accident in Germany.   Zanardi fortunately survived and has since become a Gold Medalist athlete for Italy at the Paralympics.  However, probably the only place Zanardi didn’t have his success was in Formula 1.  In just one season with Williams he had 10 retirements in 16 races, and was constantly being out performed by his teammate Ralf Schumacher who scored all of his team’s 35 Constructors Championship Points.

You can't be good at everything, Alex. (unfortunately) 


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