The Formula 1 mavericks: Hungary’s Zsolt Baumgartner and other mavericks

Nine nations have so far been represented in Formula 1 by just one driver, including Hungary. A history of GP outsiders.

• Hungary: Zsolt Baumgartner

• 2003/2004

• 20 Grands Prix

• Best finish: 8th at Indianapolis in 2004

In the Formula 1 World Championship, we have seen only one Grand Prix driver from Hungary: Zsolt Baumgartner from Debrecen. Baumgartner, now 38 years old, drove a total of 20 World Championship races for Jordan and Minardi, from the Hungarian Grand Prix in 2003 to the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2004. He finished 15th at his home race at the Hungaroring in 2004; the highlight of his career was an 8th-place finish at Indianapolis in the same season. This put him 20th in the World Championship standings. Even years later, he could still be found in the Formula 1 paddock, driving the popular Formula 1 two-seater.

• Chile: Eliseo Salazar

• 1981–1983

• 24 Grands Prix

• Best finish: 5th at Imola in 1982

Although he didn’t exactly set the world alight in Formula 1, Eliseo Salazar is a national hero in his home country of Chile. The 64-year-old from Santiago, who competed in a total of 24 Grands Prix between 1981 and 1983 and scored three World Championship points in the process, became world-famous in Grand Prix racing thanks to a bizarre incident. At Hockenheim in 1982, he forced Brabham star Nelson Piquet off the track as the Brazilian attempted to lap the ATS driver. Piquet leapt out of his car in a rage and rained punches and kicks down on Salazar; the images were seen around the world (do have a look on YouTube). Salazar reacted like a wimp and barely put up a fight.

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• Czech Republic: Tomás Enge

• 2001

• 3 Grands Prix

• Best finish: 12th at Monza in 2001

Tomás Enge is one of the few Formula 1 drivers to have been caught in the doping control net. He was stripped of his 2002 Formula 3000 title for the unauthorised use of cannabis, by which time he had completed his three races with the Prost team (formerly Ligier). In June 2012, Enge tested positive again; in August, the FIA imposed an 18-month ban. The Czech driver subsequently returned to racing and competed in sports cars.

• Indonesia: Rio Haryanto

• 2016

• 12 Grands Prix

• Best finish: 15th in Monaco 2016

Because Rio Haryanto rarely bothered to check his rear-view mirrors – which annoyed GP stars such as Sebastian Vettel – the Asian driver was given a rather unflattering nickname: the ‘Blindonesian’. Haryanto was always labelled a classic pay driver. For months, Haryanto’s manager, Piers Hunnisett, had been trying to raise the necessary funds to make the move to Formula 1. Then it was finally achieved, as announced at a press conference in Jakarta, at the headquarters of Rio Haryanto’s long-standing sponsor, Pertamina (oil). Haryanto had, after all, won three races in GP2 (now Formula 2) in 2015, and he put up a valiant fight in Formula 1. However, by the summer of 2016, Pertamina had lost interest in Formula 1, so Rio was replaced at Manor Racing by Esteban Ocon.

• Liechtenstein: Rikky von Opel

• 1973/1974

• 10 Grands Prix

• Best finish: 9th at Anderstorp and Zandvoort in 1974

Born in New York, but a Liechtensteiner by birth with German ancestry, we present: Frederick “Rikky” von Opel – great-grandson of company founder Adam Opel. Von Opel began his racing career under the pseudonym Antonio Bronco, but by the time he had proved his driving ability by winning a British Formula 3 championship (the Lombard North Central Championship) in 1972, Bronco had long since been retired and replaced by his real name. In 1972, on his way to the title, von Opel beat none other than Tony Brise, who years later was tipped to become a Grand Prix winner and who, together with Graham Hill, lost his life in a plane crash in 1975.

Von Opel and his fortune backed the Formula 1 project of former racing driver Morris (Mo) Nunn, who entered Grand Prix racing with him in 1973. Von Opel and Nunn performed remarkably well with the MN01 (N173) model; the N174 (or MN02) was built for 1974, but following a disastrously poor practice session in Argentina, von Opel left the team abruptly. He replaced Richard Robarts (who had run out of money) in the Brabham works team. Von Opel finished ninth in both Sweden and the Netherlands (his best Formula 1 results); after failing to qualify in France, he hung up his helmet at the age of 26. His seat went to the more talented Carlos Pace from Brazil. Virtually nothing is known about von Opel’s later life. He is rumoured to be living in Thailand as a Buddhist monk.

• Malaysia: Alex Yoong

• 2001/2002

• 14 Grands Prix

• Best finish: 7th in Australia 2002

In a highly recommended book, Alex Yoong (43) has written about how he was completely taken for a ride at Minardi. The Malaysian of Chinese descent was never able to really capture the imagination of his compatriots. That was also difficult given the second-rate equipment he was provided with. Yoong also had the misfortune of having to compete against outstanding team-mates at the small racing team: in 2001 against the rising superstar Fernando Alonso, and in 2002 against the future Grand Prix winner Mark Webber. After Formula 1, Yoong competed in all manner of racing series: Champ Car, the Porsche Cup Asia, V8 Supercars in Australia, the A1 Grand Prix – where he won four times – the Le Mans Series and GP2, before returning to his old love, water skiing.

• Morocco: Robert La Caze

• 1958

• 1 Grand Prix

• Best finish: 14th at Ain-Diab

The Paris-born Moroccan competed in just one World Championship round – his home race in 1958 on the blisteringly fast desert circuit at Ain-Diab near Casablanca. La Caze drove a Formula 2 Cooper, which he entered himself. He finished third in his class and 14th overall, having been lapped five times by the winner, Stirling Moss. La Caze spent his entire racing career in North Africa, and as he had long held a Moroccan racing licence, this was a welcome opportunity for the organisers of the World Championship round to have a local driver on the starting grid. La Caze also made a name for himself in road and touring car races and competed in rallies as well. In 1954, he won the International Morocco Rally in a Simca and, in 1957, drove a works Gordini at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. La Caze died in France in July 2015.

• Poland: Robert Kubica

• 2006–2018

• 97 Grands Prix

• Best result: 1st in Canada 2008

The Pole Robert Kubica was in the midst of a promising Grand Prix career – he set the fastest time at the 2011 winter tests in Valencia in his Renault R31, and was due to partner Fernando Alonso in a Ferrari in 2012. But a serious accident at the Italian ‘Ronde di Andora’ rally on 6 February 2011 changed everything. It was only after a long period of rehabilitation that Kubica returned to motorsport, though no longer as a Grand Prix driver, but to the rally circuit. From Hungary in 2006 to Abu Dhabi in 2010, he had contested 76 Formula 1 World Championship races; in 2008, he secured a victory in Canada (for BMW Sauber), and that season he finished fourth in the World Championship. But a return to Grand Prix racing was a distant prospect.

In 2013, the now 32-year-old won the WRC2 title. In 2014, he contested the full World Championship, with a sixth-place finish in Argentina being the highlight. Yet Kubica always dreamt of returning to the circuit. In the summer, he took part in a test for Renault, but the yellow race car for 2018 went to Carlos Sainz. In November, Kubica was behind the wheel of a Williams, but the regular Formula One seat for 2018 went to Sergey Sirotkin from Moscow. Kubica did not give up; he worked tirelessly and actually achieved a motorsport miracle – he drove a full season for Williams in 2019. Unfortunately, the results remained disappointing, and Kubica was unable to hold his own against the young George Russell enough to retain his place as a regular Grand Prix driver. Kubica became a reserve driver and stood in for Kimi Räikkönen on two occasions in 2021. Today, Kubica works as a Ferrari works driver in the World Endurance Championship; in 2025, he won at Le Mans.

• China: Zhou Guanyu

• 2022–2024

• 68 Grands Prix

• Best finish: 8th in Canada in 2002 and Qatar in 2024

Zhou Guanyu was specifically nurtured for many years, joining Ferrari’s junior driver programme in 2014. Ultimately, the Italians were not entirely convinced and dropped him from the programme in 2018; Renault stepped in and began supporting the Chinese driver from 2019. Yet Zhou had impressed as a winner in all junior series: in the 2015 Italian Formula 4 (runner-up overall), in the 2016 Toyota Racing Series, and in European Formula 3 (2016 to 2018).

Renault repeatedly put Zhou in the GP car and backed his move up to Formula 2. In 2021, Zhou finished third overall, but it had long been clear that Renault – now competing in the top flight under the Alpine name – had a luxury problem. The French team didn’t know what to do with their young drivers. Consequently, the groundwork was laid for Zhou to make the transition from an Alpine reserve driver to an Alfa Romeo Formula 1 driver. Guanyu finished tenth straight away in his first Grand Prix and scored a World Championship point; he later followed this up with an eighth-place finish in Montreal and another tenth in Monza. This saw him finish 18th in the World Championship. However, Zhou made global headlines with a spectacular crash at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

In 2023, Zhou once again finished 18th in the World Championship, thanks to three ninth-place finishes in Australia, Spain and Qatar. In 2024, the Chinese driver was the only Sauber driver to score points – finishing ninth once again in Qatar. But by that point, he had long known that his time at Sauber was coming to an end. Audi had no intention of offering him a new contract. No one in the paddock is surprised by this: Zhou seemed listless for much of the season, at times overwhelmed, and the fact that he was faster than his team-mate Valtteri Bottas on a few occasions didn’t help matters either. Today, Zhou works as a reserve driver for Cadillac and firmly believes in a comeback.