‘Fabulous’ racer never got F1 drive after being faster than Mika Hakkinen in tests

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Some of the greatest drivers in the history of Formula 1 have driven for McLaren over the years, but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been some lost talents along the way.

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are following in the footsteps of the likes of Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost and Lewis Hamilton.

Speaking on the Bring Back V10s Podcast, journalists Andrew Van de Burgt and Mark Hughes were discussing a talented driver who never quite made it onto the grid.

‘Fabulous’ Touring Car star one of McLaren’s lost F1 talents

Breaking into Formula 1 is getting harder than ever with only 20 cars on the grid and teams more and more reluctant to give rookies a chance.

Not a single team chose to change their line-up for 2024 much to the anger of Eddie Jordan and other figures in the sport.

The likes of Logan Sargeant and Zhou Guanyu are two of the more recent new additions to the grid but haven’t set Formula 1 alight.

But, they were considered better options for 2024 than the likes of Liam Lawson and current F2 champion Theo Pourchaire who is Sauber’s reserve driver behind Zhou this season.

However, the challenges of finding a seat in F1 are nothing new and have been going on for some time.

Even in the late 1980s and early 1990s when there were so many teams that pre-qualifying had to take place, talented racers were missing out.

Hughes and Van de Burgt were recalling how quick one of McLaren’s lost talents was from this period of racing.

French driver Laurent Aiello had a successful career in sports cars spanning the 1990s and 200s.

His limited opportunities in Formula 1 cars were successful, but never enough to earn him a full-time seat.

French star Aiello given limited with McLaren

Discussing who was the best French driver in Formula 1 at the beginning of the V10 era, Andrew Van de Burgt said: “I think the best of them was a guy who never raced in F1, I think he might have only done one or two tests.

“And that was Laurent Aïello, it would have been fabulous to have seen what chance he would have got in F1, but sadly he never did although he was a fabulous touring car driver.”

Mark Hughes added: “I heard about the test that he did with McLaren and basically his neck went but up until that time he was going quicker than [Mika] Hakkinen had gone through the fast sweeps, I can’t remember what circuit it was, I think it might have been Estoril.

“The team were sort of open-mouthed but yeah, he was one of the great lost talents that didn’t get into F1.”

Who is Laurent Aiello?

For Laurent Aiello to be faster than Mika Hakkinen in a McLaren suggests he might have been one of the most impressive lost talents from that era of Formula 1.

He drove for DAMS like so many other top French talents in Formula 3000 before moving into Touring Cars.

Aiello was Jordan’s test driver for two seasons without making his Grand Prix debut, with the likes of Rubens Barrichello and Eddie Irvine preferred ahead of the Frenchman.

He won the 1997 Super Tourenwagen Cup with Peugeot before racing in Le Mans, winning the 24 Hours race the next year alongside Allan McNish and Stephane Ortelli for Porsche.

A British Touring Car Championship title followed in 1999 and he won his final title in 2002 in German Touring Cars.

So many drivers came close to breaking into Formula 1 and Aiello’s name is among that list, but the way Hughes and Van de Burgt have spoken about him and managing to set times quicker than a two-time world champion suggests he was one of the quickest never to be among the pantheon of F1 drivers.