Marcus Ericsson believes the hype being attached to the young drivers coming into Formula 1 is too much, and feels his own driving at the age of twenty-six merits his position on the grid.
Max Verstappen was just seventeen when he made his debut for the Scuderia Toro Rosso team back in 2014, while Lance Stroll will make his debut in 2017 aged just eighteen with the Williams Martini Racing squad, while other young drivers on the grid include Esteban Ocon (twenty years old), Carlos Sainz Jr, Daniil Kvyat and Pascal Wehrlein (all twenty-two).
Despite the increased number of younger drivers on the grid, Ericsson does not feel his drive is under threat despite himself being twenty-six years of age, and feels he is coming to the peak of his driving ahead of his fourth season of Formula 1 in 2017 and his third consecutive season with the Sauber F1 Team.
“I can see the younger guys coming in, but still for some reason at the moment in Formula 1 it’s a bit of a hype around [that] everyone needs to be so young,” said Ericsson on Autosport. “Still, I think Fernando [Alonso] said it as well, I don’t really see why you have to be that young.
“Realistically in other sports it’s between 25 and 30 where you can be your best. I’m 26 so I’m not stressed about my age. If I were five years older it’d be a different story. I’m just coming into the peak of my age and that’s not something that’s holding me back.”
