Ages of F1 drivers

[crofty1984]

OK, so I have a question regarding F1 drivers. How old do people generally retire? How aold are they when they first enter F1 and how old is the current fleet?

[PabloTeK]

They seem to enter about 19-20-21 and Barrichello is nearly 40 now! He's a pretty special case mind. They seem to retire anout mid 30's from what I've seen.

[StevieBee]

The age of entry into F1 is coming down each year, fuelled by many junior categories now being open to kids as young as 14. It's quite possible that we will soon see 17, even 16 year olds in F1.

IIRC, Damon Hill was 26 when he got his first drive, Mansell was a similar age.

[plg101]

Interesting... have just reread the annex of the FIA sporting code, and whilst there are some age limits for lower licences (eg Grades D/C/R) there isn't a mentioned limit for a superlicence, just the standard experience/testing/exception by consensus.

Edited by plg101 on Monday 23 November 12:40

[crofty1984]

StevieBee said:

The age of entry into F1 is coming down each year, fuelled by many junior categories now being open to kids as young as 14. It's quite possible that we will soon see 17, even 16 year olds in F1.

IIRC, Damon Hill was 26 when he got his first drive, Mansell was a similar age.

Hmm, must get into F1 before 30 and have 10 good years before retiring....

[hot metal]

StevieBee said:

The age of entry into F1 is coming down each year, fuelled by many junior categories now being open to kids as young as 14. It's quite possible that we will soon see 17, even 16 year olds in F1.

IIRC, Damon Hill was 26 when he got his first drive, Mansell was a similar age.

Damon was born in 1961 ,got his 1st F1 drive in the Brabham in 1992 so must have been 30-31.Late starter indeed.

Mansell was about 28.

Edited by hot metal on Tuesday 24th November 23:43

[plg101]

hot metal said:

StevieBee said:

The age of entry into F1 is coming down each year, fuelled by many junior categories now being open to kids as young as 14. It's quite possible that we will soon see 17, even 16 year olds in F1.

IIRC, Damon Hill was 26 when he got his first drive, Mansell was a similar age.

Damon was born in 1961 ,got his 1st F1 drive in the Brabham in 1992 so must have been 30-31.Late starter indeed.

Mansell was about 28.

Edited by hot metal on Tuesday 24th November 23:43

Mansell was 27... Austrian GP 1980, and 26 when he tested.

[Magog]

I always use Fangio as my example when hoping that I still might have a chance of being an F1 driver sometime! Think he first raced in it in his late 30s.

[heebeegeetee]

Magog said:

I always use Fangio as my example when hoping that I still might have a chance of being an F1 driver sometime! Think he first raced in it in his late 30s.

He competed in F1 in his forties and beat everyone . I think he retired at 47.

He had more stamina than the kids too.

[fadeaway]

plg101 said:

Interesting... have just reread the annex of the FIA sporting code, and whilst there are some age limits for lower licences (eg Grades D/C/R) there isn't a mentioned limit for a superlicence, just the standard experience/testing/exception by consensus.

Edited by plg101 on Monday 23 November 12:40

But to get a superlicense you have to have won at a lower level, so you must have met the appropriate age restrictions for the license for that category.

[plg101]

fadeaway said:

plg101 said:

Interesting... have just reread the annex of the FIA sporting code, and whilst there are some age limits for lower licences (eg Grades D/C/R) there isn't a mentioned limit for a superlicence, just the standard experience/testing/exception by consensus.

Edited by plg101 on Monday 23 November 12:40

But to get a superlicense you have to have won at a lower level, so you must have met the appropriate age restrictions for the license for that category.

Generally, but there is still the exception clause that says if the FIA wants to ignore the main criteria of having won at x/y/z levels, they can... Good governance - the rules can't cover every scenario, always leave the opportunity for discretion...

[hot metal]

plg101 said:

hot metal said:

StevieBee said:

The age of entry into F1 is coming down each year, fuelled by many junior categories now being open to kids as young as 14. It's quite possible that we will soon see 17, even 16 year olds in F1.

IIRC, Damon Hill was 26 when he got his first drive, Mansell was a similar age.

Damon was born in 1961 ,got his 1st F1 drive in the Brabham in 1992 so must have been 30-31.Late starter indeed.

Mansell was about 28.

Edited by hot metal on Tuesday 24th November 23:43

Mansell was 27... Austrian GP 1980, and 26 when he tested.

Correct, I thought he was born in 52 but it was 53 ,my bad.

[HAZZAGTR]

hot metal said:

plg101 said:

hot metal said:

StevieBee said:

The age of entry into F1 is coming down each year, fuelled by many junior categories now being open to kids as young as 14. It's quite possible that we will soon see 17, even 16 year olds in F1.

IIRC, Damon Hill was 26 when he got his first drive, Mansell was a similar age.

Damon was born in 1961 ,got his 1st F1 drive in the Brabham in 1992 so must have been 30-31.Late starter indeed.

Mansell was about 28.

Edited by hot metal on Tuesday 24th November 23:43

Mansell was 27... Austrian GP 1980, and 26 when he tested.

Correct, I thought he was born in 52 but it was 53 ,my bad.

Heres some irony for you. When Senna and Hill were teammates at Williams in '94, they were both the same age at 33! That shows that Hill Jr. was a very late starter.

[FourWheelDrift]

Some race driver ages info.
Youngest F1 driver - Jaime Alguersuari (2009) 19 years, 125 days
Oldest F1 driver - Louis Chiron (1955) 55 years, 292 days (failed to qualify at 1958 Monaco GP aged 58).

Vettel was younger than Alguersuari when he drove on the Friday of the 2006 Turkish GP.