Upgrade for free today
You have only 5 articles remaining to view this month.
Haas driver Romain Grosjean believes he could race in Formula 1 until he is 40, and the Autosport Forums have been debating whether it is possible.
Join the debates in the Autosport Forums
The cumulative age of grand prix drivers has steadily fallen in recent years, with the current grid’s average age now just 27.
Jenson Button’s last F1 race at the Monaco Grand Prix last year came at the age of 37 and 36-year-old Felipe Massa retired at the end of 2017.
“I still have a long way to go to the end,” Grosjean told Autosport.
“I started when I was 27 really in Formula 1, so I feel like I can go a long way, maybe 40, or just before 40.
“I still believe I’ve got eight, nine seasons ahead, so I’m pretty good.”
The Autosport Forums have had their say on Grosjean’s comments:
sopa: Well, I think in his case it will be dependent on if teams want to keep signing him that long. [which] I somehow doubt.
Usually, drivers bow out at 36-37 and decent midfield drivers are really struggling to find a seat beyond that age. Top drivers could still keep racing if they are bothered.
AustinF1: Realistic? Sure, if he’s good enough. I have my doubts about that, but physically speaking, I have no doubt it can be done.
as65p: His time with Kimi [Raikkonen] in the same team suggests he’s somewhere in that ballpark, performance wise. So he should ask his former team-mate how to get a contract-for-life in a top team.
Risil: That’s 2026. So, ambitious. He’s a very good driver and definitely been worthy of his place in F1 from 2012 to the present day.
I subscribe to the school of thought that says drivers don’t physically “age out” of the sport, like footballers or basketball players do, as much as lose their competitive intensity and will to adapt to the constant change that comes with being an F1 driver.
During his F1 “gap year” after getting dumped from the sport in 2009, Grosjean drove just about everything (pictured above in AutoGP) and did it really well, so I rate his staying power as higher than most of his peers.
Can any non-world champion driver stay in F1 until their 40th birthday? Well, Pedro de la Rosa did.
Have your say on the Autosport Forums
PlatenGlass: [Rubens] Barrichello couldn’t make it despite wanting to stay in F1 and generally getting the better of [Nico] Hulkenberg and [Pastor] Maldonado in his final two years.
Age counts against you, regardless of how you’re driving.
August: Many drivers race into their 40s and are still competitive. There are just some reasons why 35+ drivers are quite rare in F1.
Most drivers enter F1 in their early 20s. By your 30s, teams have already seen your potential.
If you aren’t champion material, teams rather take a promising youngster.
Grosjean and Hulkenberg are the only 30+ drivers without a drivers’ championship, right?
And I wonder how much longer they will be retained by their current teams if they don’t do something magical.
baddog: Unless the driver loses motivation or external factors intervene there is precisely zero reason why not.
Will they get the opportunity? Maybe not so much.
teejay: With the technology in training and fitness etc I have no doubt physically it can be done. At the top level though, those slow but steady dips in reaction speed do count.