Any jilted driver who says they are happy to leave Formula 1 would still be in F1 if they could be.
However, there’s certainly some truth in the fact F1’s not a particularly fun place to be for a lot of drivers. And it would be a lot better if grand prix racing were a place in which several drivers and teams could spend their years doing more than simply treading water.
This train of thought was sparked by the news of ex-Haas F1 driver Kevin Magnussen adding another mighty element to his fledgling post-grand prix career by joining Peugeot’s works sportscar roster in 2022.
It came just a few days after his former team-mate Romain Grosjean, another shown the F1 exit door after 2020, revealed he had secured a road/street-course IndyCar programme.
Indy and the World Endurance Championship are, like Formula E or in years gone by the DTM, excellent places for ex-F1 drivers to pitch up when their time at the ‘pinnacle’ ends.
But for drivers who either never got a fair crack at F1, or grew tired of the championship’s inherent competitive imbalance across the grid, their alternative careers are probably not a step-down.
Magnussen and Grosjean, a little like when Fernando Alonso got sick of running in the F1 midfield in 2018 and instead turned to the Indianapolis 500, WEC and Dakar Rally for his competitive kicks, are in the position of ‘frustrated driver’ rather than ‘driver who never got a shot’.
So, seeking refuge elsewhere is not necessarily a negative – or at least in terms of experience rather than what would be the preference in an equal world.
Magnussen getting a Ganassi and Peugeot programme for his first two seasons out of F1 is not going to be a worse experience than another year with Haas making up the numbers. It simply will not be. He will enjoy this more than being an F1 backmarker.
Given the choice though, he’d almost certainly have continued in F1. Because it’s F1. That doesn’t just mean if he’d been offered a Mercedes drive either. Even sticking with Haas would have been acceptable. There is an undeniable attraction in being an F1 driver for the sake of being an F1 driver.
But the version of F1 he experienced means there are some silver linings to finding an alternative. And that’s where F1 has room to improve.
“I felt like I’ve been in pretty much the same spot for a couple of years, not really making any progress, not really going anywhere, and I’m an ambitious person,” Magnussen says.
“I’m driven by competing and competing for wins, and I didn’t feel like I was really doing that in Formula 1.
“I feel like I gave it a good shot, I’ve done it and I’m ready to go and win some stuff again, so that’s really where I’m at.”
It’s an unavoidable shame that drivers in Magnussen’s position in F1 are essentially stuck unless they either get a massive slice of fortune or get binned off for money. Sergio Perez, preparing for a crack at Red Bull in 2021, is a good example of perseverance paying off.
He is an exceptional case but one that shows exactly why drivers are minded to stick it out in F1 mediocrity as long as possible, either in the hope or (naively?) the expectation that it will change.
Sooner or later though, that wears thin. And it’s almost a given that those drivers will eventually leave harbouring a small amount of ill-feeling at the very least, with the prospect of being a big fish in a smaller pond appealing more.
That the likes of Alonso spoke so negatively about the domination of a few teams when he went off on a two-year sabbatical at the end of 2018, or that Magnussen has also taken a swipe at F1 losing its “soul” in the short time since he departed, shows that presently some drivers will leave F1 without feeling like they are losing an awful lot by doing so.
So, what can F1 do to give the rest of the grid more than just a plodding existence? Shouldn’t the F1 midfield be more rewarding as ‘stepping down’ to find success elsewhere?
I believe it should. If F1 really is the pinnacle it should make any other category a complete, unequivocal step down – even if a driver goes on to win elsewhere. Ideally, the all-round experience of being an F1 driver should be the absolute peak of racing existence.
That is probably unrealistic. But it’s fair to say modern F1 is quite a long way from that outcome, and is letting the bulk of the grid down as a result.
Perhaps F1’s 2022 rules will help address that.
While driver complaints might seem like sour grapes, these are drivers for whom F1 essentially stopped offering much to. Likewise, smaller teams have not been able to count on simply employing the highest-quality drivers, because they need the money – look at Haas ousting both Magnussen and Grosjean and most of Williams’s drivers since 2016.
These are issues the 2022 changes should address by making F1 more competitive and more affordable, with cars that are more raceable.
Maybe it’s too much to expect McLaren or Aston Martin to start sniping for the odd win on merit, let alone Haas or Williams doing that. But F1’s new era can probably offer the teams and drivers a bit more than just medium-term stagnation.
Suddenly, life outside the podium battle can be enjoyable, not just about treading water.
If that were the case, Alonso would probably not have grown fed up and walked away in 2018.
If the budget situation and revenue distribution makes everything a bit more manageable for teams, then one like Haas would be both a bit more competitive and not in need of drivers that boost its commercial outlook.
That would allow someone like Magnussen to stick around a bit longer, and be more than happy to do so in a more competitive environment. And even if Magnussen was to then disappear for the WEC, or IMSA, or IndyCar after another couple of years, chances are he’d probably be a little less negative about the world he leaves behind.
Sure, jilted drivers will always try to spin their rejection into a positive, and claim the grass is greener somewhere else. After all, who wants to stick around fighting over ninths and 10ths?
But ultimately, what F1 wants to be in 2022 is a much better product for its competitors and its fans. And a machine-driven world is a tiresome existence for those at the wrong end of a baked-in pecking order.
F1 at its best is a rewarding, exciting world. The new era that begins in 2022 needs to open that world up to the more neglected drivers, rather than keep letting them down.
