He was the F1 driver tipped to become a ‘superstar’ by Michael Schumacher but he only started 20 Grands Prix

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Many Formula 1 talents have failed to live up to expectations across their careers, and some stories are heard more than others.

A great modern example would have been Nico Hulkenberg before he took his first Formula 1 podium at the 2025 British Grand Prix. Looking back after earning a trophy, he could have achieved more in his younger years.

Before the 21st century, with such a large field spread, it was arguably harder for talent to shine over one lap. However, with some reliability luck, over a race distance, there was always a shot.

Ayrton Senna demonstrated this with Toleman in 1984, using wet conditions to his advantage at the Monaco Grand Prix.

His career was transformed from that moment onwards, and he finished just ahead of one driver that day whose career was also set on a different path due to his performance that day.

The driver who finished third was actually disqualified months later due to a weight reduction violation, but he had already shown just how special he could be.

READ MORE: He was the son of an F1 world champion but Ayrton Senna was the only driver who ‘respected’ him

Michael Schumacher once called Stefan Bellof an F1 ‘superstar’ in the making

Stefan Bellof was the man meant to join Senna and Alain Prost on the podium at the 1984 Monaco Grand Prix, but for an unknown reason, he wasn’t present at the podium ceremony.

If the race hadn’t been red-flagged due to the increasing volume of rain, Bellof probably would’ve won the race. Senna had suspension problems, and Prost lacked pace.

In 22 official starts, he scored four points. Unfortunately, he was disqualified from every single race in 1984 due to Tyrrell running illegal fuel and their cars underweight, otherwise, he’d have had a lot more.

In 1985, his best result was fourth at the Detroit Grand Prix, but months later, he would tragically lose his life in the 1000km of Spa World Sportscar Championship race.

According to the Stefan Bellof website, back in 2010, Michael Schumacher said, “If Stefan had not been killed in an accident, my career might never have existed. Everything in motorsport would have been about Bellof because he would have become the Formula 1 world champion and PS superstar.”

Even though Schumacher was once ‘at risk’ of a Ferrari sacking, even he recognised that he might not have got that far if Bellof had continued to race, such were his talents.

READ MORE: Ayrton Senna once promised to join winless F1 minnows as soon as he matched Juan Manuel Fangio’s championship record

Martin Brundle once called Stefan Bellof the quickest driver he had ever seen in Formula 1

At the time of his passing, few knew that Bellof had actually signed a deal to race for Ferrari in 1986, which would have been a big jump.

He has been compared to the likes of Senna, Prost and Schumacher, but no one speaks as highly about him as ex-teammate Martin Brundle.

Back in 2016, he told Motorsport Magazine some stories from their time together and explained the regard in which he holds him.

“He was as quick a racing driver as I’ve ever seen. Everyone talks about Senna being robbed at Monaco in 1984, but I’m sure Stefan would have passed both him and Prost had the race continued,” he said.