It's fair to say that there was genuine shock in the paddock earlier this month when Toro Rosso named 18-year-old Daniil Kvyat as Daniel Ricciardo's replacement for 2014.

Other than the fact that many believed Antonio Felix da Costa was a shoe-in, Helmut Marko subsequently stating that the Portuguese had been disappointing this year, it was Kvyat's age that surprised.

With Sauber aiming to have 18-year-old Sergey Sirotkin line-up on the grid next season, some fear that teams are recruiting drivers based on what they can bring with them in terms of financial backing rather than on merit. However, whilst such practices have always been part of the sport, it is the sheer age, and relative inexperience, of the two youngsters that is surprising.

Speaking ahead of this weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Jenson Button, who also sent shockwaves through the paddock when he was Williams surprise signing in 2000, albeit aged 20, admitted that he is concerned at this new trend.

"Daniil has done pretty well in GP3 but it is still surprising that Toro Rosso have put someone so young in the car," he admitted, according to the Guardian. "For me, F1 is more competitive than ever in terms of talent and experience, so it's make or break for the kid. It might have been better if they had turned around when he was 21 and more experienced and ready for the drive, and said 'here you go'. Now, if he has a few bad races, they could replace him.

"When I started in F1 in 2000, I wasn't ready, but I had to take the opportunity," he continued. "He has to take the opportunity but it should be the people on the other side that say you are too young and you need more experience. He was always going to jump to take the opportunity because it may never come again.

"With Sirotkin, I have no idea what he has done. I hear he is racing in World Series but when you look at the leaders (Kevin Magnussen and Stoffel Vandoorne) there is a big difference from them down to the next. I am not sure he has ever fought for the lead. It is a strange one, but he obviously has good backing. And again, he is never going to say no, is he?

"He knows how to drive a racing car but it is not a question of driving around on your own. A lot of people could do that relatively well. It is when you put them in a race with 21 experienced racing drivers. It is also about how he carries himself out of the car, his fitness and his engineering capabilities."

Apart from all this, there is the fact that 2014 sees the biggest raft of rule changes to the sport in living memory. Veteran Ross Brawn has already said that experienced hands are needed in terms of management and the technical side of things, but what about the drivers.

"Next year is possibly the most difficult year to come in and learn," admits Button. "The way the new engines are going to work will mean the driver has to really understand the car before he goes out.

"At 17 or 18 years old, you don't really know a lot on the engineering side. I certainly didn't. My second year in F1 was so tough because, suddenly, my car wasn't so competitive and I didn't know what I was doing.

"I had no idea how to set up a Formula One car. Either these guys are schooled very well or they will have to be very good at engineering. It is very difficult on a team-mate of someone who is very inexperienced because he ends up setting up the car and the other guy copies him.

"You know what you are doing but you can't pick up anything from your team-mate. You don't learn as much as in a team with two experienced drivers. It does hurt you. Having two experienced drivers in a team is key and next year it will be very important."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by The Rumble Strip, 03/11/2013 20:56

"There seems to be an increasing and perhaps slightly worrying trend these days of teams now intent on hiring drivers based on what they can bring to the table in terms of sponsorship, rather than on pure talent alone.

Whilst there is no doubt that financial packages are crucial to the livelihood of paymasters and their employees, you’ve got to worry that those being placed into seats will be rather out of their depth.

Although the old adage of if you’re good enough then you’re old enough can ring true, it doesn’t say much for what should be a natural career progression through the junior ranks if young charges are able to bypass such categories of GP2 and GP3, which are meant to give them a solid grounding in F1.

"

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2. Posted by Skidmarks, 01/11/2013 9:57

"Vettel and Alonso weren't that much older when they started, Raikkonen and only done about 25 races in any formula when he came to F1 and wasn't it only a few years ago that everyone was complaining that there were no opportunities for new drivers to come into F1?

I am not trying to defend Red Bull's choice, or Sauber's for that matter, but nowadays drivers may have been learning racecraft in karting since they were 7 or 8. No matter how young or old a novice F1 driver is, there will be a mountain to climb, so unless the present crop go on until they can draw a pension, I suspect we will see more young drivers in the lower ranked teams.

The top teams will continue to cherry pick from the established drivers as they have always done. "

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Button admits surprise at 'youth trend'

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