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There are plenty of drivers who hold unwanted records from Formula 1’s 75-year history.
Philippe Alliot holds the record for most races without finishing on the lead lap, and for a long time, Nico Hulkenberg had started the most Grand Prix without scoring a podium.
Hulkenberg eventually triumphed at the 2025 British Grand Prix, but many drivers left the sport without being able to rid themselves of similar accolades.
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Many people previously believed that Marco Apicella held the record for the shortest F1 career after he was crashed into at the first corner of the 1993 Italian Grand Prix while racing for Jordan and never took to the grid again.
However, the record was actually broken 40 years earlier by a German driver named Ernst Loof.
Loof managed to lurch his car forward for just two metres – or six feet – before grinding to a halt and never racing in Formula 1 again.
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How Ernst Loof set the record for the shortest Formula 1 career in history
Loof was born in Neindorf, Germany, on 4 July 1907 and was better known for as an engineer.
His career was spent racing bikes more than cars, and he was known for contributing to the design of the BMW 328 at the end of the 1930s.
Loof founded the Veritas car company in post-World War II West Germany, and they started entering cars in the earliest editions of the F1 World Championship.
Swiss driver Peter Hirt retired from his home race in 1951 in Veritas’ debut, having qualified 16th, nearly half a minute behind pole sitter Juan Manuel Fangio.
Franz Riess produced Veritas’ best-ever finish the following year, coming seventh in the 1952 German Grand Prix, before it was Loof’s turn 12 months later.
At the 1953 race at the Nurburgring, Loof was one of seven drivers to race for Veritas, but could only set a best time of 12:16.8, more than two minutes slower than Alberto Ascari.
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Formula 1’s official website then describes Loof’s bad luck, suggesting that he only managed to travel two metres from his starting position on the grid of 31st.
A fuel pump issue ruined his one and only F1 race, and the German driver sadly died just three years later at the age of 48.
It also proved to be the end of Veritas in F1, with the team bowing out without a point to their name, and only six classified finishes between their various drivers.
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Who was the last driver to only compete in one Formula 1 race?
It is far more difficult for a driver to reach Formula 1 now than in Loof’s time, when privateer entries were able to make their way onto the grid much more simply.
Hans Heyer took part in an F1 race he didn’t even qualify for, before retiring from the race and then being disqualified.
Even drivers like Jack Doohan and Nyck de Vries, who failed to impress Alpine and AlphaTauri, respectively, were awarded a handful of races before being replaced.
The last driver to only take part in a single Grand Prix in their career – thus far – was Jack Aitken.
Aitken was handed his opportunity by Williams following George Russell’s call-up to replace Lewis Hamilton at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix.
The British driver qualified 18th, less than one-tenth behind teammate Nicholas Latifi, and finished 16th, beating fellow debutant Pietro Fittipaldi in the Haas.
Aitken has gone on to have a very successful sports car career, finishing second in the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2025 alongside driving for Emil Frey Racing in DTM.
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