Is that it? F1’s shortest driver stints after Liam Lawson sacking

PARIS – It would not be much consolation to Liam Lawson,

sacked by Red Bull on March 27,

but his two-race tenure is by no means the shortest driver stint in Formula One history.

The axe fell on the New Zealander after his uninspiring start to this season as the teammate to four-time world champion Max Verstappen in Australia and China.

He fell victim to the cut-throat world in motor racing’s fast lane, with Red Bull then appointing Yuki Tsunoda, and Lawson demoted to the Japanese driver’s seat at sister team Racing Bulls (RB).

Here is a look at five drivers who figured only fleetingly on F1’s grid.

Andre Lotterer

The German, a three-time winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours, holds the dubious distinction of the shortest career in F1‘s 75-year history – one lap.

He replaced Kamui Kobayashi at Caterham for the Belgian Grand Prix in 2014 alongside Marcus Ericsson. He bested his Swedish teammate in qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps, but retired after the opening lap with a technical failure.

Markus Winkelhock

Another German, whose father and uncle were both F1 drivers in the 1980s.

His career lasted longer than Lotterer’s, but only by a few laps. He took over from Christijan Albers at Spyker in 2007, briefly leading the European GP at Nurburgring before retiring on lap 15.

Luca Badoer

Badoer was an unfortunate footnote in Ferrari’s celebrated history.

After 10 years out of F1 he was selected, at age 38, to replace the injured Felipe Massa at the 2009 European GP. He came in 17th out of the 18 drivers left, while he was the last of the 14 finishers in his second and only other start in Belgium.

Despite his lack of pace in the two races, he was ironically fined for speeding in the pit lane during practice at Spa.

Yuji Ide

At age 31, Ide became one of the oldest rookies when appointed to the Super Aguri team in 2006.

He completed only one of his four races when he finished 13th in Australia. Not only was he swiftly sacked, but he also suffered the ignominy of having his FIA driver’s licence revoked.

Nyck de Vries

Like Lawson, another victim of Red Bull’s ruthlessness.

The promising Dutch driver was signed by AlphaTauri, now RB, after an encouraging last-minute stand-in performance for Williams’ appendicitis-hit Alex Albon at the 2022 Italian GP.

He was replaced by Daniel Ricciardo following a series of lowly finishes, culminating in his 17th position at Silverstone in only the 10th race of the 2023 season. AFP