In 2023, 20 drivers from many different countries and backgrounds F1 will compete in Formula 1.
F1 is typically referred to as a “young driver’s game,” but there will be no teenagers competing in the upcoming season. 70% of the drivers are in their 20s, making up the majority of the field.
Exact 25% of the field is made up of experienced veterans in their 30s, who make up a quarter of the grid.
Those of you who are mathematically inclined will have realized that means there is only one driver out of the remaining 5% of the field. The oldest driver on the grid is this driver, who is in their 40s.
Which drivers are the youngest to compete in Formula One in 2023?
Oscar Piastri, a new McLaren signing, will be the youngest driver in Formula One 2023 because there are no teenage racers on the grid. The Australian, who was born on April 6, 2001, will be just shy of 22 years old when he makes his professional debut in Bahrain in March 2023.
Piastri is just over three months younger than fellow rookie Logan Sargeant, who is the next youngest driver on the grid. The American was born on December 31, 2000, so he will be 22 years old when he first drives for Williams. Yuki Tsunoda, who was born on May 11 and is entering his third Formula 1 season this year, is another baby born in the year 2000.
Despite entering his fifth season in the sport and having established himself as one of the most talented drivers, Lando Norris, who was born on November 13, 1999, remains one of the youngest drivers on the grid.
There’s no indication of the Spaniard dialing back right now, however the most experienced F1 driver ever (355 race begins at the finish of 2022), Fernando Alonso, is by a wide margin the oldest driver on the lattice in 2023, brought into the world on the 29th of July 1981.
Alonso will become the last driver to drive in the old V10 era, which ended in 2005, when Kimi Raikkonen retires at the end of 2021.
He is the only driver still in his 40s, but he isn’t the only one who made his debut in the 2000s. Lewis Hamilton joined Alonso at McLaren in 2007 as a young upstart, while Alonso made his debut with Minardi in 2001. Hamilton was born on January 7th, 1985.
Due to Sebastian Vettel’s retirement at the end of 2022, the only remaining drivers prior to 2010 are Alonso and Hamilton, with Nico Hulkenberg returning to the sport with Williams in 2010. The driver of the Haas was born on August 19, 1987.
Only three other drivers in 2023 are in their 30s: Valtteri Bottas of Alfa Romeo, Sergio Perez of Red Bull, and Kevin Magnussen of Haas. However, the Danish driver just turned 30 in October 2022, making him more than five years younger than his teammate.
With a gap of 19 years, 8 months, and 9 days between Fernando Alonso’s birth in July 1981 and Oscar Piastri’s in April 2001, the disparity between the ages of the oldest and youngest drivers in 2023 is particularly eye-opening.