The other point is that Hamilton is in a team that would never have considered using a full-time rookie a few years back. That was because there were several independent teams back then, at which a young driver could earn their spurs before McLaren took them on (Lotus for Mika Hakkinen, Williams for David Coulthard and Juan Pablo Montoya, and Sauber for Kimi Raikkonen). Even successful independent teams generally take more risks than manufacturers at the same success level.

Of course, most of the independents are gone now, and Williams have taken Wurz from McLaren, so McLaren is suddenly required to take more risks. Hence why Lewis Hamilton started his career at McLaren – and why McLaren is seeing the truth of the EJ quote journeyer gave in the previous post!

As for the 3-5 year apprenticeship, that’s true, not everyone is a Schumacher or Senna who are regularly quick right off the bat. Alonso took a few years to get there (3-4 years), Hakkinen even longer (6-7 years). Even Hamilton got tons of simulator time (for a year or so) to be where he is now. Some of the teams just aren’t patient enough for that. For example, look at Justin Wilson and Robert Doornbos. They bumped them out of F1 without a thought. But look at them now at Champ Cars, both are right at the front. Could they have been good enough for F1 had they been given a better opportunity? I doubt we’ll ever know.

Nonetheless, I prefer youth over experience. As Eddie Jordan said, “Why go for someone who you know isn’t good enough?” But I do understand those who pick experience, because these guys are more knowledgeable technically, and quite simply, they’re more mature.

That said, the standard of driver is improving – even Adrian Sutil would do well in a better team, and he’s paying huge amounts for his seat – and there is also the problem of longevity. Since 2003, there have been 24 rookies – of which only nine are on the grid now. Of those nine, three began this season and another two the year before. In other words, the rookies that are getting in aren’t lasting.

It’s got to the point where vast amounts of experience are necessary if a driver expects to remain competitive across a span of several years. Youth may be faster in its debut season, but the young drivers tend to fare badly in their second and third years. This is why teams are so keen to keep on the more experienced drivers, even when they expect their rookies to be beating them by the end of the season. They’re needed to keep team development on an even keel and keep the rookie’s performance in perspective.

The number one priority for a team should always be talent and skill, not age – but the smaller teams haven’t always had that luxury and instead have had to put money first which at the end of the day hasn’t really helped them close the gap performance-wise to the big guns at the front.

Having said that, there are some teams who seem to be throwing good money after bad to retain drivers which from the outside don’t really seem worth keeping!