62 replies to this topic

[Afterburner]

Recently, I was thinking about how F1 as a sport has felt different from how it did in the early 2000's. There are hundreds of ways in which the sport has changed since then, but for some reason, I personally feel like the drivers that are currently in the field just don't give it the same character that it used to have. In short, I think that the current F1 field has too many young drivers.

When older drivers such as Fisichella, Frentzen, Coulthard, Panis, etc. made up the field, I think the racing itself felt very different because we were watching drivers that had been in the sport for a while competing against each other. They had histories, they had career highlights, and they were still racing against mostly the same opponents. In comparison to the grid during the early 90's-00's, if you look at the current field, many of the drivers are just past twenty years old. In my opinion, it gives F1 a very different feel, and I think that we need more older drivers rather than a grid full of twenty-somethings.

I think teams are trying too hard to secure the "hottest young guns" and need to instead build relationships with their current drivers until they're older and more experienced so they can provide better input on the car. Every year it seems like we've got another series of young newbies looking to prove themselves in the field of F1. If so many teams are continually recycling their drivers, what does it say about the actual class of the field if it's only composed of drivers who have barely been in F1 for three or four seasons? I miss the days when most of the drivers in F1 actually had a history amongst each other, rather than the field we have now where the teams seem to be recycling young drivers like hot property until they get a winner. In a few years, it'll be hard to remember some of the faces of the 2010-2011 season if they don't stick around for a while.

If the post was too long, here's a simple question for you: in summary, do you think that the current field has too many young drivers?

[TURU]

I tend to agree with you. More older drivers would be good for the sport. It gives different feel to it, like the old days

Edited by TURU, 14 February 2011 - 18:57.

[RoutariEnjinu]

I don't think so.

I think it has some uninspiring rookies (and some good ones), and I think it has some good or at least interesting characters from young to old.

I want to see the best drivers, regardless of any property that has no bearing on how good they are. I think the sport is richer for having a young rookie Kamui and an aged returned Schumacher.

Sounds like nostalgia. I think modern F1 is exciting in its own way.

Edited by RoutariEnjinu, 14 February 2011 - 18:58.

[Bonaventura]

Just a sign of getting old

[ch103]

I don't think so.

I think it has some uninspiring rookies (and some good ones), and I think it has some good or at least interesting characters from young to old.

I want to see the best drivers, regardless of any property that has no bearing on how good they are. I think the sport is richer for having a young rookie Kamui and an aged returned Schumacher.

Sounds like nostalgia. I think modern F1 is exciting in its own way.

i agree with your sentiments to a degree, current F1 is exciting in its own way. However I do see the OP point, and that is that F1 teams are so overly worried about missing the next Hamilton or Vettel, that often times experienced drivers are not given a chance to get a ride.

Part of me feels that the young driver phenomena is a marketing driven reality - youth sells and is far more marketable than age. I also feel that with the current level of sophistication in the cars, younger people are far more suited to them than older (30+ lol) people. You lose your ability to take risks as you age and I feel that takes away from lap times. Only at an F1 level.

[Villes Gilleneuve]

If the post was too long, here's a simple question for you: in summary, do you think that the current field has too many young drivers?

The stupidest behaviour in the 2010 season was credited to the oldest driver in the field.

[mkoscevic]

Every F1 era is special in it's own way.

But i got the feeling that F1 used to be a little bit more relaxed ten years ago then it's now.

[7timesbetterthantherest]

I agree 1000% Great post !

Coulthard speaks highly of Paul Di Resta .... He says that it's a good thing for Di Resta coming in F1 at 24 years of age becuase he's got alot more baggage than these 20 year olds ...

Jacques Villeneuve has been saying this argument for the past 10 years... Teams today want little yes-men kids with no caracter.

In short, F1 teams nowadays are always looking for the new Schumi and not being patient enough ....

But it's the same problem in other sports , like in Basket-ball (NBA) ....

Teenagers who are still in high-school are being drafted at the TOP level without movingup the ranks through college , and the result is that the game of Basket-ball has declined alot in terms of talent... the kids today don't know the real fundamentals and how to really play the game like it use to be in the 80's ... Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird all started their rookie years in their early 20's..
They had the right background ....

But the Vettel ,Hamilton and Alonso fanboys like to use the '' Youngest'' champion argument over and over again.

[Villes Gilleneuve]

Maybe it was, but it was also one of the most exciting behaviours in the 2010 season.

That move was dangerous, exciting and done in high speed - which is exactly why most of the people watch F1 in the first place.

If I wanted F1 like that, I'd stick to NASCAR.

We're supposed top be watching the best in driving, not frustrated has-beens pointlessly risking lives.

If you liked that move, maybe we should bring back Piquet Jr.?

[7timesbetterthantherest]

And if i remember correctly if there's one team that I put some blame on this whole ''young driver phenomena'' it's Williams ...

Back in 2000 or 2001 , don't remember exactly, Jenson Button was very young and did well in his first season with Williams.

The english press went absolutely mad over Button .. It was Buttonmania ...

Then the next young inexperienced rookie that came after him was Kimi Raikkonen ....

and the rest is history as they say ....

[Nonesuch]

Recently, I was thinking about how F1 as a sport has felt different from how it did in the early 2000's. There are hundreds of ways in which the sport has changed since then, but for some reason, I personally feel like the drivers that are currently in the field just don't give it the same character that it used to have. In short, I think that the current F1 field has too many young drivers.

I did a quick and probably imperfect calculation, subracting the year of birth from respectively the 2000 and 2010 season.

In 2000, we had 23 drivers in all, 6 of which were 25 or younger (Burti, Button, Heidfeld, Mazzacane, Ralf Schumacher and Zonta). Three drivers were 35 or over (Alesi, Herbert and Irvine). The average age (again, this is highly imperfect, but good enough for a decent sketch): 28,57

In 2010, we had 27 drivers in all, 7 of which were 25 or younger (Rosberg, Hamilton, Alguersuari, Hülkenberg, Kobayashi, Buemi and Vettel). Four drivers were 35 or over (Barrichello, De la Rosa, Schumacher and Trulli). The average age: 28,52.

It's true that the age of the champions is, on average, getting gradually lower, but I don't think the situation is quite as bad as our young WDC may suggest.;)

It would perhaps be more interesting to see the age of regular visitors to the podium, to weed out the rookies in smaller teams and the older drivers who aren't really all that competitive anymore.

Edited by Nonesuch, 14 February 2011 - 19:22.

[PayasYouRace]

I did a quick and probably imperfect calculation, subracting the year of birth from respectively the 2000 and 2010 season.

In 2000, we had 23 drivers in all, 6 of which were 25 or younger (Burti, Button, Heidfeld, Mazzacane, Ralf Schumacher and Zonta). Three drivers were 35 or over (Alesi, Herbert and Irvine). The average age (again, this is highly imperfect, but good enough for a decent sketch): 28,57

In 2010, we had 27 drivers in all, 7 of which were 25 or younger (Rosberg, Hamilton, Alguersuari, Hülkenberg, Kobayashi, Buemi and Vettel). Four drivers were 35 or over (Barrichello, De la Rosa, Schumacher and Trulli). The average age: 28,52.

It's true that the age of the champions is, on average, getting gradually lower, but I don't think the situation is quite as bad as our young WDC may suggest.;)

It would perhaps be more interesting to see the age of regular visitors to the podium, to weed out the rookies in smaller teams and the older drivers who aren't really all that competitive anymore.

I had a feeling that the numbers would reveal that there's actually very little difference to 10 years ago. This topic is just another rant. We seem to be getting a lot of them at the moment.

[7timesbetterthantherest]

I had a feeling that the numbers would reveal that there's actually very little difference to 10 years ago. This topic is just another rant. We seem to be getting a lot of them at the moment.

then why don't you create a non-rant topic then , instead of complaining ?

[PayasYouRace]

then why don't you create a non-rant topic then , instead of complaining ?

I could, but there are already threads for what I usually like talking about.

[legardP45]

maybe having a minimum age would put more of a spotlight on junior series, which could be good for them. But another consideration is that a young talent might get stuck waiting in a feeder series and end up dropping out due to finance issues- it's a double edged sword IMO.

[Villes Gilleneuve]

Listen, when you've got a very competitive environment it's inevitable that from time to time you are going to see some pretty risky moves. Where humanity is involved in some kind of competition it's always like that.

You can't turn off your logic and push idea of racing/competing without having some person crossing the edge, as they are living to get to that very edge and gain as much in terms of time/positions.

If you can't understand that there always will be escalations above the edge with such a ultra competitive environment, then you don't understand human nature.

So yeah, that move was part of the 2010 season and that's perfectly fine. Move on.

Many F1 media experts and fans are in agreement that that move was not "perfectly fine". It certainly would not have been tolerated in the past.

This was not the race for the podium for the WDC, it was pathetic back marker driving that we would have expected from novitiates or pay drivers. It has dumbed down F1 from sport to entertainment.

Might as well have bladed wheels and flaming hoops.

[7timesbetterthantherest]

Many F1 media experts and fans are in agreement that that move was not "perfectly fine". It certainly would not have been tolerated in the past.

This was not the race for the podium for the WDC, it was pathetic back marker driving that we would have expected from novitiates or pay drivers. It has dumbed down F1 from sport to entertainment.

Might as well have bladed wheels and flaming hoops.

It's called RACING - If RB would of have been hurt that day, or worse, it would have been his own fault ... He's the nincompoop who drove on the outside line while Schumacher kept his racing line all along...

That move was no worse than countless other moves made by Senna for example .

Edited by 7timesbetterthantherest, 14 February 2011 - 19:46.

[mariner]

The one observation that I would make ( as a member whose age is more "Nostalgia forum") is that today junior kart success seems to be everything.

Both Button and Hamilton were kart champions by the age of 12 IIRC. That requires parents with deep pockets or immense ambition. Going back the F1 drivers more usually started at 16 -18 after getting a driving licence. As they were also at working age their early progress could be determined by them and not there parents e.g Damon Hill , Nigel Mansell.

So now you have a situation where parent power is maybe more important than before so " sucess" or "failure" happens earlier and that is helping bring the average age down.

Yes, know Ronnie Peterson had a kart built by his dad and Schumacher had his parents kart track but my impression is that the ladder is now parent funded kart success straignt into sponsored series then GP2 to F1 whereas earlier they started later and had more " club" experience pre being sponsored in a major series ( at least in the UK) , hence the younger age in F1.

[Buttoneer]

Please keep to the topic - it's not about specific incidents unless they are used to illustrate and support your arguments.

[Slumberer]

Surely one of the differences is the hardware.
In the past the cars were difficult to drive and drivers needed a lot of experience to cope.
Nowadays the cars have so many systems to assist the driver, so much downforce, so much grip, such driveablity, that people without "much" experience are capable of wringing the most from them.
No team is going to pass up a youngster who may be the fastest outright driver for one who has experience but posts a slower laptime.
And in races, now being a series of sprints, and being told by the team what to do, wiley old racecraft is less of an advantage.

Times change.
Not necessarily for the better, mind....

[arknor]

The stupidest behaviour in the 2010 season was credited to the oldest driver in the field.

barrichello isnt as old as schumacher.

barrichello drove off the track to try and get past, if it were grass nothing would have happened and there would have been no incident...

[Tsarwash]

I think that lack of personality rather than the ages of the drivers is more of a 'worry' and it might be this fact that makes people think the drivers are getting younger and younger.

[KateLM]

I think there are a couple drivers who would have benefited from staying in the junior formulae for a year or two longer but none of these drivers have arrived and been unsafe, so I don't think its a particularly important issue. I would say its a bit of a shame though that there seems to be a bit of a stigma with drivers in their 30s as most of them are still proving to be competitive - I wouldn't call Barrichello, Webber or Heidfeld "has-beens".

Edited by KateLM, 14 February 2011 - 20:42.

[GlenP]

F1 is no different to other sport - players are getting younger because of professionalism and money. Drivers start younger and younger, and achieve a higher standard of technical and technique excellence earlier than was previously possible. So not only is Lewis, or Sebastian, at a level in pure driving terms that you might have only seen in a driver some ten years older previously, they are also physically fitter than would have been the case before.

At the same time the sport gets more physically tough all the time, which favours younger athletes. So you get to the situation where, for example, DC can't be fit enough any more, or for contrast, Michael Schumacher's achievement in coming back is truly amazing. To come back at his age fifteen years previous would have been not such a big deal.

[Jackmancer]

I'm just a bit afraid F1 will look easy. Like Hamilton almost winning it in his first year.

[mkoscevic]

I'm just a bit afraid F1 will look easy. Like Hamilton almost winning it in his first year.

That wasn't down to F1. Hamilton was an exceptional rookie in a very good car.

[Jackmancer]

That wasn't down to F1. Hamilton was an exceptional rookie in a very good car.

I know. "Looks like" and "Actually is" are two different things but for really casual lookers it might be the same things

[Seanspeed]

I want to see the best drivers, irrespective of their age.

Y'all sound like a bunch of old fogeys.

[farsailor]

The stupidest behaviour in the 2010 season was credited to the oldest driver in the field.

"Obviously I gave him too much room.. - as he passed"

[Myrvold]

I'm not sure if the age is that much lower in average. But you need to get in at a earlier age, that is kind of frustrating. Drivers like Senna and Chandhok is "too old" and "not young and promising" today. Even though, they can have as much as 15 years of F1 driving left in them. If it had been the 80's or 90's it wouldn't been "too old".

[FenderJaguar]

No I don't think they're getting too young. I remember some years ago when it seemed like nobody could get into F1 and the teams didn't seem to have any imagination what so ever. The drivers were just moving from one team to the other...more than right now. Glad to get rid of Ralf, Coulthard, Frentzen, Fisichella and so on. Would like to see Barrichello and Trulli leave as well since I think they have had their chances. With that said - of course I want the best drivers out there.

Edited by FenderJaguar, 14 February 2011 - 22:43.

[mybikeisfasterthanyou]

We need the best drivers, not just older ones. How does that even make sense? If they were better than the younger ones, they would get a seat. It is about skill, not age. In the early days the older guys got in easier because the younger guys were not racing anywhere, they were in school studying to be an accountant.

Nowadays kids get the chance to kart at a very early age, in every city. That is the reason the younger ones are streaming in....they are faster.

Edited by Buttoneer, 14 February 2011 - 23:10.
removed off topic

[Rabbit123]

If you look at the data, it seems clear that the average ages of the F1 drivers has certainly decreased over the decades.
Damon Hill was considered to be quite old for a driver in the 1990s, when he was in his mid 30s; whereas drivers like Fangio were already in their late 40s when they were winning races in the 1950s. Now we have drivers like Vettel winning the championship in their early 20s.

I think this has been happening more and more in recent years, since such things as "young driver programmes" were introduced. In my time watching Formula One (since the late '90s), I've seen records such as "youngest driver", "youngest race winner" and "youngest world champion" broken again and again. Indeed, the way it's going at the moment I fear that in another 20 years they'll be sticking babies in the cars.

These new drivers, maybe proving a match for some of the more experienced guys, perhaps because of the driver talent selection processes which are becoming more common, but their relative inexperience does show at times. Just look at the giant list of driver errors and mistakes that the top drivers were making last year.

It was, interestingly the most experienced of the leading drivers, Jenson Button, who seemed to always drive consistantly and not make any errors. Also, whilst not always being the fastest, Button was able to make good strategic decisions that got him in front, this I believe this comes with age and experience. You can compare him to teammate Hamilton, who was one of McLaren's new young drivers and is certainly very fast; however he sometimes lacks that ability to make his own decisions and would rather do as other people tell him. He has also been known to make many silly mistakes, some of which have cost him races and championships.

[Bonaventura]

If you look at the data, it seems clear that the average ages of the F1 drivers has certainly decreased over the decades.
Damon Hill was considered to be quite old for a driver in the 1990s, when he was in his mid 30s; whereas drivers like Fangio were already in their late 40s when they were winning races in the 1950s. Now we have drivers like Vettel winning the championship in their early 20s.

I think this has been happening more and more in recent years, since such things as "young driver programmes" were introduced. In my time watching Formula One (since the late '90s), I've seen records such as "youngest driver", "youngest race winner" and "youngest world champion" broken again and again. Indeed, the way it's going at the moment I fear that in another 20 years they'll be sticking babies in the cars.

These new drivers, maybe proving a match for some of the more experienced guys, perhaps because of the driver talent selection processes which are becoming more common, but their relative inexperience does show at times. Just look at the giant list of driver errors and mistakes that the top drivers were making last year.

It was, interestingly the most experienced of the leading drivers, Jenson Button, who seemed to always drive consistantly and not make any errors. Also, whilst not always being the fastest, Button was able to make good strategic decisions that got him in front, this I believe this comes with age and experience. You can compare him to teammate Hamilton, who was one of McLaren's new young drivers and is certainly very fast; however he sometimes lacks that ability to make his own decisions and would rather do as other people tell him. He has also been known to make many silly mistakes, some of which have cost him races and championships.

At some age they have to start at F1
why wait several years if someone is good enough?
It would be a waste of time and talent
They should not be younger than 20+x
but to wait until 25 +x is nonsense
Nowadays drivers need some other skills and talents than the drivers decades ago
Everything gets faster/younger nowadays F1 is no exception

Well, who of the two, Lewis & Button came out on top last year?
Expierence was not/is enough for Button to be better than Lewis

Some of you sound like Sokrates/Plato.

Edited by Bonaventura, 14 February 2011 - 23:47.

[Laffite]

Recently, I was thinking about how F1 as a sport has felt different from how it did in the early 2000's. There are hundreds of ways in which the sport has changed since then, but for some reason, I personally feel like the drivers that are currently in the field just don't give it the same character that it used to have. In short, I think that the current F1 field has too many young drivers.

When older drivers such as Fisichella, Frentzen, Coulthard, Panis, etc. made up the field, I think the racing itself felt very different because we were watching drivers that had been in the sport for a while competing against each other. They had histories, they had career highlights, and they were still racing against mostly the same opponents. In comparison to the grid during the early 90's-00's, if you look at the current field, many of the drivers are just past twenty years old. In my opinion, it gives F1 a very different feel, and I think that we need more older drivers rather than a grid full of twenty-somethings.

I think teams are trying too hard to secure the "hottest young guns" and need to instead build relationships with their current drivers until they're older and more experienced so they can provide better input on the car. Every year it seems like we've got another series of young newbies looking to prove themselves in the field of F1. If so many teams are continually recycling their drivers, what does it say about the actual class of the field if it's only composed of drivers who have barely been in F1 for three or four seasons? I miss the days when most of the drivers in F1 actually had a history amongst each other, rather than the field we have now where the teams seem to be recycling young drivers like hot property until they get a winner. In a few years, it'll be hard to remember some of the faces of the 2010-2011 season if they don't stick around for a while.

If the post was too long, here's a simple question for you: in summary, do you think that the current field has too many young drivers?

I really don´t care about young or not so young drivers.. I just hope that we can have as many champions possible. This year we´ll have 5 champions contesting, that´s very good to the sport. Too bad we can´t have a certain Finn to make it 6.

[BenettonB192]

OP you think the generation of Prost, Senna, Mansell, Piquet were legends right from the start?

[Nonesuch]

It would perhaps be more interesting to see the age of regular visitors to the podium, to weed out the rookies in smaller teams and the older drivers who aren't really all that competitive anymore.

I made this little graphical representation of the drivers who finished in the top 5 of the Drivers Championship and their respective age at the end of the year.

I listed every year back to 2000, and then skipped to every five years (for comparison's sake, the missing years make this part of graph less relevant). Just to be clear: these are the ages of the top five finishers, not all drivers who participated in a race that year. Whether or not this list actually proves anything I can't say, but it is perhaps interesting nonetheless.

The usual caveat applies: I tried to make sure these numbers are all correct, but it's possible an error slipped in somewhere.

Edited by Nonesuch, 15 February 2011 - 00:20.

[bourbon]

I want to see the best drivers, irrespective of their age.

Y'all sound like a bunch of old fogeys.

+1.

Look around, this is true in nearly all disciplines. From business to sports to entertainment to health/law/accounting professionals to teachers, etc., age ranges are increasing. Interestingly, on both ends - we have an increase at both the younger and older ends of the range. I think that is great.

[Birelman]

Recently, I was thinking about how F1 as a sport has felt different from how it did in the early 2000's. There are hundreds of ways in which the sport has changed since then, but for some reason, I personally feel like the drivers that are currently in the field just don't give it the same character that it used to have. In short, I think that the current F1 field has too many young drivers.

When older drivers such as Fisichella, Frentzen, Coulthard, Panis, etc. made up the field, I think the racing itself felt very different because we were watching drivers that had been in the sport for a while competing against each other. They had histories, they had career highlights, and they were still racing against mostly the same opponents. In comparison to the grid during the early 90's-00's, if you look at the current field, many of the drivers are just past twenty years old. In my opinion, it gives F1 a very different feel, and I think that we need more older drivers rather than a grid full of twenty-somethings.

I think teams are trying too hard to secure the "hottest young guns" and need to instead build relationships with their current drivers until they're older and more experienced so they can provide better input on the car. Every year it seems like we've got another series of young newbies looking to prove themselves in the field of F1. If so many teams are continually recycling their drivers, what does it say about the actual class of the field if it's only composed of drivers who have barely been in F1 for three or four seasons? I miss the days when most of the drivers in F1 actually had a history amongst each other, rather than the field we have now where the teams seem to be recycling young drivers like hot property until they get a winner. In a few years, it'll be hard to remember some of the faces of the 2010-2011 season if they don't stick around for a while.

If the post was too long, here's a simple question for you: in summary, do you think that the current field has too many young drivers?

You're on the right track, F1 IS a bit too young, and yea, teams seem to be too focused on finding the next best thing a bit too early. However, it's not only since the 2000s, I think it's been getting way too young since the mid 90ies, or even earlier.

I find it ridiculous how people were already talking about Kimi Raikkonen's retirement since he was 26!!! WTH?! and he actually retired at age 30? Alonso is viewed as an older driver, yet, he's what? 30? He's just getting started, Senna dies at his prime at 34. I think it is a problem for these drivers to enter so young, 1 year for a 21 year old feels like an eternity while, for a 28 year old it feels a lot shorter, and maybe these drivers feel they've been in Formula 1 forever by the time they're 25, or 26. I think it's crazy!

Edited by Birelman, 15 February 2011 - 01:38.

[Nesto]

The problem also is that performance is so dependent on getting one of the top drives, which are all secured and coincidentally by the supreme young talents that have arrived in the last decade, Alonso, Hamilton, and Vettel. They have been lucky enough to get in the fast cars and show their potential. There are guys who should be out of the sport but then there are also young guys not making an impression in slower cars as well. I dream of a F1 where all the drivers get chances to race in every team's car so we can see who is truly deserving. It would be exciting and will never happen =\

[klyster]

If they're able to gain a seat in a team and a super-license on merit, I don't care how old they are.

[Andrew Hope]

If they deserve their seat, they can be 50 for all I care. The only consequences of younger drivers in my eyes, apart from making me feel extremely old at age 19, is that they tend to be much more boring to listen to, although you have to keep in mind this is a product of the era, not their age. That they are boring to listen to has nothing to do with their age, it's just a byproduct.

Then again, I think you have to be a dumbass to be watching F1 for what the drivers say more out of the than what they do in the car anyway.

[velgajski1]

I did a quick and probably imperfect calculation, subracting the year of birth from respectively the 2000 and 2010 season.

In 2000, we had 23 drivers in all, 6 of which were 25 or younger (Burti, Button, Heidfeld, Mazzacane, Ralf Schumacher and Zonta). Three drivers were 35 or over (Alesi, Herbert and Irvine). The average age (again, this is highly imperfect, but good enough for a decent sketch): 28,57

In 2010, we had 27 drivers in all, 7 of which were 25 or younger (Rosberg, Hamilton, Alguersuari, Hülkenberg, Kobayashi, Buemi and Vettel). Four drivers were 35 or over (Barrichello, De la Rosa, Schumacher and Trulli). The average age: 28,52.

It's true that the age of the champions is, on average, getting gradually lower, but I don't think the situation is quite as bad as our young WDC may suggest.;)

It would perhaps be more interesting to see the age of regular visitors to the podium, to weed out the rookies in smaller teams and the older drivers who aren't really all that competitive anymore.

Just as I thought.

This shows only that young generations of drivers are getting better and better.

[boldhakka]

It's a symptom of you getting older and not being able to identify with the drivers. The rational part of your brain then concocted a plausible sounding explanation for why you think older drivers would be better for the sport. I have the same feeling too. About many sports.

[Bleu]

Debut ages of five champions of 80s/90s:
Rosberg 29 (and three months)
Mansell 27 (about week before race)
Piquet 25 (26 in less than month)
Prost 24 (25 in about month)
Senna 24 (just in the week of first race)

While you look at top five of last year
Webber 25 (and about half)
Hamilton 22 (and about two months)
Button 20 (and about one and half months)
Vettel 19 (20 in few weeks)
Alonso 19 (20 around mid-season)

That's where you see major difference.

[johnmhinds]

I notice you left off Hakkinen, Villeneuve and Schumacher who all debuted between the ages of 22-24, that would have brought your average for the 90s champions down.

Edit: but then you have Hill who debuted at 31 wacking out the averages. :/

Edited by johnmhinds, 15 February 2011 - 09:55.

[Afterburner]

I did a quick and probably imperfect calculation, subracting the year of birth from respectively the 2000 and 2010 season.

In 2000, we had 23 drivers in all, 6 of which were 25 or younger (Burti, Button, Heidfeld, Mazzacane, Ralf Schumacher and Zonta). Three drivers were 35 or over (Alesi, Herbert and Irvine). The average age (again, this is highly imperfect, but good enough for a decent sketch): 28,57

In 2010, we had 27 drivers in all, 7 of which were 25 or younger (Rosberg, Hamilton, Alguersuari, Hülkenberg, Kobayashi, Buemi and Vettel). Four drivers were 35 or over (Barrichello, De la Rosa, Schumacher and Trulli). The average age: 28,52.

It's true that the age of the champions is, on average, getting gradually lower, but I don't think the situation is quite as bad as our young WDC may suggest.;)

It would perhaps be more interesting to see the age of regular visitors to the podium, to weed out the rookies in smaller teams and the older drivers who aren't really all that competitive anymore.

The average age may have been the same, but an average doesn't mean very much if it's created from there being more drivers at opposite ends of the age spectrum. My point has to do with the number of older drivers in the field--which has gone down since the 90's/00's--not the average age of drivers in the field.

I think that lack of personality rather than the ages of the drivers is more of a 'worry' and it might be this fact that makes people think the drivers are getting younger and younger.

I sort of agree with you here, but some younger drivers don't really help the image of F1, in my opinion. For example: Liuzzi with his piercings and Speed with his ripped hat in '05-'06. I really don't think those styles helped to create a better image for the sport.

It's a symptom of you getting older and not being able to identify with the drivers. The rational part of your brain then concocted a plausible sounding explanation for why you think older drivers would be better for the sport. I have the same feeling too. About many sports.

I already feel old, and you guys are making me feel even older, but I'm not that old.

[Rubens Hakkamacher]

I'd would rather have seen Allan McNish, Raikkonen, certainly Hakkinen, Anthony Davidson, Sato, Villeneuve, Fisichella, even Ralf racing recently than Hulkenberg, Piquet Jr., Albers, Buemi, Scott Speed, Grossjean.

[simplyfast]

Just as I thought.

This shows only that young generations of drivers are getting better and better.

IMHO not so much better and better (as in faster) but better and better prepared.
With the massive amounts of difference between the cars from today and even just 5 years ago it is impossible to say with any degree of confidence that a Mr Moss or Mr Fangio would not have be just as dominant today if they had gone through the same programs as the likes of Lewis and Vettel have enjoyed.