Motorsport is built on split-second fate. It is full of alternate realities – what if a driver didn’t crash, or what if he signed to a different team?
Here are the ones that still keep fans up at night.
What if Valentino Rossi switched to F1 in 2007?
Rossi actually tested with Ferrari and was really fast! After the testing, he seriously considered making the swap to F1 from MotoGP. Despite this, he did not end up making the switch however, if he’d committed to it, we could have had an Italian F1 World Champion as well as a MotoGP legend.
This makes fans question what would have really happened. Would MotoGP have lost its best racer? And also, would he have been able to compete with trained F1 drivers?
What if Senna hadn’t crashed at Imola?
This is possibly one of the biggest what ifs of all time. Senna was sharp, fast as well as passionate. There are so many questions regarding what the world of F1 would be like if he lived.
He could have gotten many more World Titles during his life or maybe
even stopped the ‘Schumacher era.”
His death still brings up so much conversation. He is still “the best F1 driver ever” by many fans and also drivers’ standards – including Lewis Hamilton.
What if Toyota didn’t fail in Le Mans 2016?
This is one of the most tragic DNF’s in motorsport history. Toyota led at the 24 Hours of Le Mans for an extremely long time. It was almost certain that they were going to take home the win.
At the drop of a hat, everything changed. After leading for the entire race, their car died. It was utterly devastating for them. Ultimately, Porsche overtook their stationary car and then took the win.
It was so cruel, and it makes us question so much; could a win at Le Mans have changed Toyota’s story? If so, would the legacy of Porsche be different today?
What if Robert Kubica didn’t have a rally accident in 2011?
Kubica was seriously good at what he did. In F1, we saw his natural talent and unmatched skill, but not the true peak of it. Ferrari showed massive interest in Kubica, and he was also on track to be a title
contender. This was until a serious accident happened. During a rally race he crashed, and a metal barrier severely injured his arm. It caused extremely limited movement and because of it, he couldn’t take part in
F1 anymore.
His skill in F1 and also his sudden exit makes us ask, could he have been the next big thing?
What if Dan Wheldon was signed instead of testing?
Before his death, he was due to return to IndyCar full-time. He was simply testing the car before something changed massively for him and also the world of motorsport.
He crashed during his testing and died. When he was alive, people called him a talented driver, who also had interests in Formula 1, and had he lived, he could have shaped the next decade of IndyCar as a driver. This left lots of questions unanswered.
What do they tell us?
All of these ‘What if?’ moments, as well as the uncertainty events can bring, remind us how fragile motorsport is. All it takes is one misstep, one delay, one unlucky moment, and everything changes. This is also why we love it.
Racing is a risk, and history is written in mere seconds.