Sergio Perez's contract extension at Red Bull is looking crazier by the race. Since Monaco 2023, I would argue he has performed worse than Gasly or Albon ever did. I would suggest picking Perez over Sainz could well cost them the 2025 constructors' championship. The only contract extension to which it is comparable, to me, is Paul Lambert's five year extension at Ipswich Town in January 2020.
It made me wonder about the opposite of this thread: https://forums.autos...d-driver-moves/
What are the craziest driver market decisions by teams in motorsport history? Either like the rejection of Harry Potter by so many publishers, a driver who turned out to be amazing but the teams didn't see that potential, or a decision that seemed brain-dead even at the time.
In my opinion, there is one that will never be topped. Renault's decision in 1983 to fire Alain Prost, already the best driver on the grid but just coming into his prime, in favour of Derek Warwick and Patrick Tambay. This has got to be the most ludicrous.
Unfathomably, Prost was fired by a second team in his career, Ferrari in 1991, but that wasn't quite as bad as the Renault one as Prost wasn't as strong a driver at this stage. Still, I think it takes second place, while replacing him with Ivan Capelli can be put down to a gamble that didn't pay off, as he had looked good at Leyton House.
Williams signing Alex Zanardi in 1999 is another that comes to mind, although again, that is a gamble that didn't pay off. He could have been another Jacques Villeneuve, although his two years at Lotus in 1993-1994 gave some indication otherwise.
Ferrari chose to run Piero Taruffi instead of Stirling Moss in the 1951 Bari Grand Prix, a move that potentially cost them many titles in the long run as Moss then refused to drive for Ferrari when he was the undisputed best in the world because of that snub, although he would have driven a privateer Ferrari in 1962 had he not had his accident.
Alpine giving Esteban Ocon such a long contract extension and then missing out on a potential Alonso/Piastri lineup in 2023 springs to mind.
They won the 2007 championship anyway, but Ferrari ditching Michael Schumacher in favour of Kimi Raikkonen was surely a mistake. I think Schumacher would have collected the 2008 title had he stayed on.
Another would be Aston Martin replacing Sergio Perez, rather than Lance Stroll, with Sebastian Vettel in 2021, but reasons for that are very clear.
McLaren chose Patrick Tambay over Gilles Villeneuve for 1978, leading to Villeneuve moving to Ferrari instead.
Lotus bowed down to Innes Ireland demanding a seat rather than John Surtees in 1961. A Surtees/Clark lineup would have been something quite special but maybe they didn't need them both.
Perhaps there has been a second crazy decision recently, with Alpine parting ways with Esteban Ocon for 2025. It seems unlikely that he will be replaced with anyone better than Mick Schumacher or Jack Doohan at the moment, although I am sure Ocon wanted to leave anyway.
Any other suggestions?
I would also be interested in the opposite. A move that looked ridiculous at the time but turned out to be inspired. For example, Felipe Massa to Ferrari in 2006 didn't appear to make much sense but he turned out pretty well.
