Mark Webber has questioned the wisdom of parachuting young drivers with minimal experience into Formula 1 race seats – arguing that the sport’s top flight should be reserved for seasoned racers and not used as a training ground.
Jaime Alguersuari is set to become the youngest driver ever to start a grand prix in Hungary on Sunday, aged 19 years and 125 days, and will be on a steep learning curve having had only a couple of straightline tests in which to familiarise himself with the Toro Rosso car he will be driving.
Webber was careful not to imply his new Red Bull stable-mate didn’t belong in F1, but suggested the sport was not well served by an influx of young inexperienced drivers with comparatively thin CVs.
Asked how he would have coped with joining F1 as a 19-year-old, Webber said: “I probably wouldn’t have been ready, to be honest, but these days they seem to be ready a lot earlier.
“I’ve never been a big fan of Formula 1 being a learning school, but it seems like it is these days.
“I don’t think Formula 1 is a learning school; when you arrive in Formula 1 you should be ready, it’s not a place to learn.
“Anyway, some guys are doing that, but it’s harder without testing these days.
“I think we’re going to see a bit more of it in the future.
“I mean it’s not like a few years ago when we had a guy lapping eight seconds off the pace, which was totally ridiculous.
“Jaime won’t be like that; he’ll be quick enough and he’s going to learn.
“But they are becoming younger every time now, so that’s the way it is – after Formula Ford they want to be in Formula 1.
“It’s quite cheap if you can do it that way, but it’s not that easy when you arrive.”
Felipe Massa was even more outspoken, claiming Alguersuari is simply too young and inexperienced to be promoted to F1, particularly since he has had no meaningful testing mileage, and that it risks damaging the Spaniard’s long-term prospects.
“For me he’s too young,” said Massa.
“When I came into Formula 1 I was just 20 and for me it was also quite young.
“I was too inexperienced to ask what I needed from the car so I made some mistakes. For sure I had a very difficult car to drive, but anyway, it was not easy for me.
“But even for myself – and I can say it was too early for me – I did the whole winter [of testing], so I did many tests in Formula 1.
“He’s never driven a Formula 1 car, or he has only driven it in a straight line or whatever.
“It’s not good for him; he can burn himself very quickly.
“Maybe he’s an incredible talent and he will do much better than everybody thinks, but for me it’s not good for him.
“I’m surprised a team would put a guy like this in the car. For me it’s not right.”
BMW Sauber veteran Nick Heidfeld does not share Webber and Massa’s concerns, however, advancing a simple explanation for why the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Sebastien Buemi and now Alguersuari have reached F1 at a younger age than was typical in the past.
“The fact that drivers start to become younger and younger is pretty normal, or easy to explain, because they just start younger in karting,” said the German.
“When I did Formula Ford you were only allowed to do it when you were 18; now I think you’re allowed to do it when you are 16.
“For me it’s not so much about age – Mark won his first race [aged 32], and when Michael [Schumacher] won his last world championship he was not the youngest. Age is not that important.”
And Alguersuari’s compatriot Fernando Alonso, who likewise was 19 when he made the step up to F1 in 2001, pointed out that youth was no hindrance for him as he learned the ropes.
“All my career was like this,” said Alonso.
“When I was in go-karts, when you race in Cadets the drivers are normally between eight and 12 years old, and I was winning when I was eight.
“Then you go to the next category, I was 12 and it was people from 12 to 16, and I was winning.
“All the steps in my career I was three or four years younger than my main competitors, so when I arrived in Formula 1 it was not a surprise for me to be racing against older people.”
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