[Driver] Max Verstappen should NOT race in F1 for 2015

[JeremySmith]

I disagree, I don't think they are that easy to drive, young drivers like Max are the future of the sport and he will prove his worth IMHO ...

[djinvicta]

More so than the other Max.
Good for Max, he seems cool and very adult.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by Flavio Galtieri

I cannot see any justification for putting a child in a Formula One car, however wealthy, powerful and well-connected his parents and backers may be. It's just plain wrong in my personal opinion.

If he's that good let him prove it by winning a few junior titles until he's an adult, what's the rush?

I do agree with others above that today's F1 car is far too easy to drive. That's at the heart of the problem. Fixing that will help.

But it's even worse when you have fully grown adults who have had nothing of note in their long career in junior series' who still pay their way into an F1 drive. THAT is the issue with F1 drivers if there is one.

[Hawkwood]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

The scary thing is that people want old drivers in the midfield/backmarker teams.

Yeah, let's have Pedro de la Rosa instead of blooding the new generation further down the field.

Mind boggling stuff.

Well said sir!

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

The scary thing is that people want old drivers in the midfield/backmarker teams.

Yeah, let's have Pedro de la Rosa instead of blooding the new generation further down the field.

Mind boggling stuff.

In principle, you are possibly right; however, in practice that might not be the case.

In most instances, and yes I am sure that there are and have been exceptions, these young guns have not fully developed the ability to help the engineers set up the cars to fully utilise their capabilities, whereas a driver such as de la Rosa is acknowledged as a an excellent development driver. It may be, and I would expect it, that he will be able to extract more from the car by way of set up than somebody who has not spent the hours that he has pounding round in testing in years gone by.

This is why, in the recent decades, most team bosses chose to elevate their test drivers to the race seat when it became available; they had experience which counted for a lot to the management. Nowadays, with extremely limited testing allowed, picking somebody like de la Rosa might be a good idea because he may be able to identify areas that might be able to be improved to push the team further up the grid whereas the young gun might not have the experience to identify the problems.

[JeremySmith]

Mike surely the teams gather so much data from the cars, the wind tunnels and the simulator that driver feedback is not as important as it used to be...

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

But it's even worse when you have fully grown adults who have had nothing of note in their long career in junior series' who still pay their way into an F1 drive. THAT is the issue with F1 drivers if there is one.

Well, that is another issue I agree, but hopefully the new super licence rules will sort both of these issues out soon.

It's just a shame it took the absurdity of Max's promotion to F1 provoke this change.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by Flavio Galtieri

Well, that is another issue I agree, but hopefully the new super licence rules will sort both of these issues out soon.

It's just a shame it took the absurdity of Max's promotion to F1 provoke this change.

Tbh I do think Max is a good driver but have to admit that RBR placing him straight into F1 when their young driver scheme has Alex Lynn and Pierre Gasly involved with more experience and just as much pace is a bit absurd, although his pace should justify it...

[Adam43]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_R...cing_driver%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo...(racing_driver)

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by Adam43

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_R...cing_driver%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo...(racing_driver)

Yeah, that turned out well didn't it?

A different era, not to be repeated, but sticking a kid in a Formula One car just for the opportunity for his backers/parents to make money is just plain wrong. Hopefully we won't have another tragedy.

[Adam43]

I wondered if that would be the response. The suspension failure was not a result of him being too young. Your point means we should ban Motorsport before another tragedy.

I also liked my links because of the Le Mans reference. After all we have a sportscar v F1 WAR at the moment on 10tenths with entirely new points.

While we're on Le Mans
http://www.motorsport.com/lemans/new...r-matt-mcmurr/

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by Adam43

I wondered if that would be the response. The suspension failure was not a result of him being too young. Your point means we should ban Motorsport before another tragedy.

No it doesn't. You are clearly not understanding the issue here.

My response indicates my desire not to see a child far too young to even vote have his life put at risk for the sake of maximising his backer's income.

Whether a tragedy occurs by a suspension failure, an error on his or another competitor's part or a tractor on the track is irrelevant.

[Adam43]

Sorry for not understanding.

What age is it acceptable for someone to pay someone else to drive in F1? Is it a different age in other motorsport series, or even karting? It is a rhetorical question to demonstrate my point, in case someone misunderstands.

On a MSA licence form, or a race entry if you are under 18 you need a patent of guardian's signature. I wonder if Max has to get that

[Knowlesy]

I'm guessing any arbitrary age limit will wipe out all the feeder series.

Nobody can start racing until the age of 32 and they go straight into F1.

[steve nielsen]

If Max had proved something in all the testing and free practices he has driven so far is that he DOES belong in F1.

Age does'nt mean anyting one 17 year old can be more mature than some 21 year olds.

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

I'm guessing any arbitrary age limit will wipe out all the feeder series.

Nobody can start racing until the age of 32 and they go straight into F1.

On the contrary.

Feeder series will be irellevent if any young well-connected Max can step into a Formula One car after go karts and a few FR/F3 races.

Why would you bother putting the expense of your young charge through all the rigours and risk of F4/3 GP3/GP2?

Max has made a joke out of the entire feeder system, which is why the FIA have finally acted. Pity it was a year too late.

[Greem]

I have this vague recollection of a chap called Kimi Raikkonen, who came into F1 with bugger all experience (but what he had was top-notch and floor-wiping in terms of wins) but did really rather well (and was very popular to boot).

Perhaps I'm mistaken?

OK, he was a little bit older than Max, but still. 23 single seat car races was all he'd done, and I don't see any retrospective hand-wringing over that.

[Flavio Galtieri]

Originally Posted by Greem

I have this vague recollection of a chap called Kimi Raikkonen, who came into F1 with bugger all experience (but what he had was top-notch and floor-wiping in terms of wins) but did really rather well (and was very popular to boot).

Perhaps I'm mistaken?

OK, he was a little bit older than Max, but still. 23 single seat car races was all he'd done, and I don't see any retrospective hand-wringing over that.

Er, I think you'll find that not only was he older he achieved rather more than Max has in cars to date.

Anyway, that was then, this is now. He wouldn't be able to repeat that move.

[F1 lobby]

Originally Posted by Flavio Galtieri

Max has made a joke out of the entire feeder system, which is why the FIA have finally acted. Pity it was a year too late.

Max made a joke out of the guys who doubt him, all that complaining about a year too late, a year too early, who cares if he's already proofed to be mega talented and a very quick learner, he got the once in a lifetime chance and took it with both hands, wouldn't you?! would you guys do any better on that level at an older age?? Rossi, Marquez, Stoner and Lorenzo who all started in MotoGP at very young ages, just like Ronaldo and Messi, anybody had a problem with their early debuts on the highest thread?

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by Flavio Galtieri

Er, I think you'll find that not only was he older he achieved rather more than Max has in cars to date.

Anyway, that was then, this is now. He wouldn't be able to repeat that move.

Well someone has repeated that move, not Kimi, but someone who has achieved an awful lot in a short space of time, including some very good competent performances in a Formula 1 car...

...do you actually watch any feeder series? Because if you did you'd say Verstappen has world beating potential...

[TrapezeArtist]

I really have no idea whether Max Verstappen will do well or not. But that's not really the point. I utterly defend his right to be there.

When some youngsters in the 60s came into F1 at 19 or 20, they couldn't have more than a couple of years racing experience because there was no way to start until you were 17. The Verstappens of this world have been racing since they were 8 so they have accumulated a lot of experience. Obviously in their last couple of years before F1 they need to develop and prove themselves in something powerful and high downforce, but that is largely the responsibility of the team employing them to make sure that is right.

[wnut]

The way I heard it put, Max's talent is such that STR were forced to sign him in a scramble this year before somebody else did. Failure to have signed him would have robbed STR of an apparently massively talented driver. Schumacher anybody?

[Flavio Galtieri]

[QUOTE

...do you actually watch any feeder series? Because if you did you'd say Verstappen has world beating potential...[/QUOTE]

What a stupid thing to ask.

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Flavio Galtieri

Er, I think you'll find that not only was he older he achieved rather more than Max has in cars to date.

Anyway, that was then, this is now. He wouldn't be able to repeat that move.

Raikkonnen had participated in about 20 Formula Renault 2000 UK races when he was drafted into F1 which would make him much less experienced than Verstappen who has participated in 33 F3 races at this point and won several International Karting World Championships.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by Flavio Galtieri

[QUOTE

...do you actually watch any feeder series? Because if you did you'd say Verstappen has world beating potential...

What a stupid thing to ask.[/QUOTE]

So when you watch lower formula do you only see F1 potential in drivers in GP2/FR3.5 who are 20+yo or something? Or if they're good, are they just good? Because I'd go with the latter.

Bottas and Kvyat jumped from GP3 into F1, albeit with testing experience, but neither ever looked out of their depth...