F1 news: Ralf Schumacher warns F1 over 'dangerous' AGE of drivers

F1 News

Schumacher warns F1 over 'dangerous' AGE of drivers

Ralf Schumacher has warned F1 about the 'dangerous' age of their drivers

Sheona Mountford

Saturday 16 March 2024 13:59

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Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher has warned the sport to be careful about the age of drivers on the grid.

Drivers are extending their careers for longer, with top drivers such as Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton, aged 42 and 39 respectively, showing no signs of slowing down.

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Teams have also opted for more experienced lineups, with Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Nico Hulkenberg both in their 30s, leaving little room for young drivers to make a start on the grid - and that's a major problem, believes the German TV pundit.

The previous two F2 champions, Felipe Drugovich and Theo Pourchaire have failed to make the jump up to F1, with drivers like Liam Lawson also waiting in the wings.

Schumacher warns F1 about excluding younger drivers

After an impressive debut in Saudi Arabia for Ferrari junior driver Oliver Bearman, Schumacher has stated it is ‘dangerous’ for F1 to exclude younger drivers from the grid.

“The now 42-year-old Alonso is driving instead [of younger drivers]. Nothing against Alonso - but it can’t be the aim of Formula 1 to get older and older,” Schumacher told Speedweek.

“It was very important that someone [Bearman] came, was thrown in and achieved a good result. Every team was almost afraid to take on new drivers. Hopefully it will lead to new drivers coming back.”

“When the sponsors, the investors, the fathers no longer believe in supporting the offspring because they won’t get anywhere afterwards anyway. And we're talking about square sums that have to come back somewhere. And then at some point no one will be interested in it anymore. I think that’s dangerous.”