A driver's age shouldn't make him unattractive to F1 teams

[Yoong Montoya]

Many think that F1 drivers are over the hill at 35. I think this is bulls***.(Don't know if I can say the full word BTW)
I think if a driver is still fully motivated, his age shouldn't be a disadvantage. Look at Jean Alesi. He scored 4 points in that s***box Prost in 2001, yet F1 still left him behind. I don't see why an experienced, motivated driver in his mid-to-late thirties like couldn't be just as good or better than the newest overrated sensation.

What is your opinion on this subject?

[Nicholas]

They're just there for the short term. Somebody like Jenson Button has (optimistically) 15 years left (!) in the sport, and things can only get better until then, so that's alright. If you're a new team though, you're better off getting an Allan Mcnish type of guy who's spent most of his life as a test driver and should be very good at development.

[Sato san]

I agree that older drivers still have the speed in them if tey are committed enough to their fitness etc. I was a firm believer that Mansell had another good season in him back in 95 had he got the williams drive .

But Nicholas is right , teams may not like them so much now as they are all looking for the next world champion or a driver they can groom for the long term .

[f1manoz]

Going for youth is the opinion of today. Most of the grid is now under 30 years old. Like most things in F1, things go in cycles. Today the team managers are going after youth. Once they realise this won't always bring the results, they'll once again mix age with experience when looking for new drivers.

[NME]

Kids can be great drivers in this F1 Playsation era ... but they lack the Charm of the old gentlemen.
I dont want to go back 40 yrs, but i guess you still remeber the great days of Reutmann, Piquet, Rosberg, Mansell, Patrese, etc. Kids lack charisma now. They surely will have it one day, but that will happen after their F1 career. I just love the Irvine's, Alesi's, mixed with some kids like Button, Raikkonen, etc

Lets not forget that in order to get your University diploma you have at least 16 years of Hard work... so Mr. F1 Team Manager dont go buying kids by the dozen just because they can be the next best thing.

DO YOU WANT TO BET THAT ALESI IN THE MACLAREN WOULD DO A BETTER JOB THEN DC OR KR !?!?!?!

[Lee Janotta]

I agree totally with this in principal, that if a driver has to, for whatever reason, take the long way around to an F1 ride, he should still be judged on his speed, not his age. I think it's absolutely insane that if your dad didn't strap your but into a kart at the age of 5, you have no hope of ever driving in F1. It takes so much money to get to a position where you're winning in F3 by the age of 20, that hundreds, if not thousands of excellent drivers are simply being ignored.