It’s not every day you hear of a driver who managed to beat both Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber in their junior days.
But, one man did exactly that and went on to win the championship they were competing in and still failed to make the Formula 1 grid, while the other two progressed to the series the following year.
Bruno Junqueira won the 2000 Formula 3000 title and remained defiant in his quest for a top Formula 1 drive the following season, eventually joining IndyCar.
How Bruno Junqueira ‘ended up’ in IndyCar
F3000 is the modern equivalent of Formula 2 – racing on the same weekends as Formula 1 on the same tracks.
So, winning the championship was a big boost to his prospects, but he never progressed beyond that – watching on as Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber took the leap to drive for smaller teams before earning bigger contracts.
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“I won the championship (F3000 which is the equivalent of Formula 2 now), so I really, really wanted to race in Formula 1 in a really good team,” Junqueira told Feeder Series. “I couldn’t get a contract for a good team and ended up choosing IndyCars.
“On the other hand, some of the other drivers that finished third, fourth in the championship [Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso], they could’ve waited but ended up racing Formula 1 [with] small teams and did very well. Ended up racing top teams in Formula 1 and winning races and championships in Formula 1. But that’s how it goes, you can’t predict.”
How did Junqueira fare in IndyCar?
Junqueira did go on to race in CART after 1999 champion Juan Pablo Montoya left to join F1 with Williams – a drive he himself would loved to have been in position for.
Montoya’s seat at Chip Ganassi Racing would’ve been considered one of the top options at the time, and he did manage to hit the ground running.
Three consecutive second places in the CART World Series between 2002 and 2004 would show that he had the speed to compete.
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But, sadly after that, he failed to push on one spot further and wound up turning to stock cars after his single-seater days came to an end.
In fact, one of the few drivers left on the grid that he raced with is still competing for the championship now – Scott Dixon.
It’s a shame for Junqueira that he never managed to make Formula 1 – getting closest in a duel with Jenson Button for a 2000 Williams seat.
But even at the age of 47, having raced just once over the last few years, he has the itch to get back on track and burn some rubber.