7 replies to this topic

[HistoryFan]

Kevin Ceccon will made his GP2 debut in Barcelona with only 17 years old. He is the youngest driver to race in this series, beating Javier Villa (18). But was there never a driver in F2 European championship (1967-1984) or International F3000 (1985-2004) who was younger?

Has someone a top-10 list?

[2F-001]

Eddie Cheever was notable for being very young (by the norms of the day) into the more senior formulae - F2 at 18-plus-a-few-months IIRC. No idea if that was ever a 'record' though. I know regulations have changed recently to allow very young ex-karters into single-seaters but could a pre-17 have run in F2 of any era unless by deception?

Edited by 2F-001, 20 May 2011 - 08:31.

[D-Type]

How old were the Rodriguez brothers when they started racing?

If my memory is correct (and these days it often isn't!) wasn't Ricardo not allowed to compete at Le Mans as he was only 16?


Edit: Typo

Edited by D-Type, 23 May 2011 - 16:12.

[David McKinney]

ISTR Amon was similarly prevented from racing there at 19

But neither of course was an F2 race...

[HistoryFan]

So no one younger than Ceccon?

[LRT24]

I can't believe a guy is allowed to race at the second-highest level at 17. IIRC Marco Campos was considered very young at 19 about 15 years ago. Not only is the trend toward younger drivers dangerous, it has the tendancy to turn the lower series into "formula dad." Motor racing has never been a poor man's game, but plenty of the great drivers of the past actually worked to support their careers. How many of today's drivers have done so?

[David McKinney]

Excellent points, LRT

In NZ you can get your driver's licence at 15, and I think both Bruce McLaren and multiple national champion Jim Palmer started at that age, or maybe 16 in McLaren's case. Amon started at 16. This meant they could get plenty of experience and still be very young if an F1 opportunity came along

More recently, Scott Dixon was so good in karts that the authorities gave him dispensation to race cars at 13. He won the NZ Vee championship at 14, the B Class of the FF championship at 15 and the FF Championship itself at 16. So by the time he first hit the Indylights series in 1999 he was still only 18, but with a lot of experience behind him

[Ise]

So no one younger than Ceccon?

As far as I understand, no.

Pepe Oriola is currently competing in the World Touring Cars at the ripe age of 16, having done only a year and a bit of Seat Eurocup. As much as I dislike seeing a field of 19 something year olds dominate the single seater scene these days, getting a hold of teenage talent that people promise will have a long career is the modern trend and is something that probably won't change.