Much has been written and said about Michael Schumacher's youth; the young age of his entry into Formula 1 and his winning the 1994 world championship. But, how young is young, and how much of an exception is Schumacher? To date, virtually all claims of his exceptional youth have been qualitative. Lacking are comparative figures.

In order to test the notion of Schumacher's exceptional youth, a comparison was made with other recent world champions, specifically those who have won the honor since 1969. Going any further back in time would include one current driver's (Damon Hill's) father (Graham), therefore signifying a different era. There have been 14 separate world champions in the past 26 years. Eight drivers won the championship only once. Six drivers won multiple championships, which have been more common in recent years than in earlier years. Data concerning the ages of the 14 most recent world champions are presented in the table below. Following the table is a discussion of the facts.

Champion     Birth yr. Yr./Age F1 entry Yr./Age 1st win  Yr./Age 1st Champ.  Yrs. in F1

Stewart         39      65/26           66/27             69/30              5
Rindt           42      64/22           69/27             70/28              7
Fittipaldi      46      70/24           70/24             72/26              3
Lauda           49      71/22           74/25             75/26              5
Hunt            47      73/26           75/28             76/29              4
Andretti        40      68/28           71/31             78/38             11
Scheckter       50      72/22           74/24             79/29              8
Jones           46      75/29           77/31             80/34              6
Piquet          52      78/26           80/28             81/29              4
Rosberg         48      78/30           82/34             82/32              5
Prost           55      80/25           81/26             85/30              6
Senna           60      84/24           85/25             88/28              5
Mansell         53      80/27           85/32             92/39             13
Schumacher      69      91/22           92/23             94/25              4
Average                     25             27                30              6

What do these data show? Clearly, Schumacher is the youngest of recent champions. He was, however, not that much younger than other champions when he entered F1, when he won his first race, and when he won his first championship. Both he and Rindt entered F1 at age 22. Although Schumacher won his first race at 23, in his second year, both Fittipaldi and Scheckter won their first race at 24, Fittipaldi in his first year. Schumacher won his championship at age 25, whereas Fittipaldi and Lauda, the next youngest champions won their first crowns at age 26. Schumacher won his championship in his fourth F1 season, but so did Hunt and Piquet, and Fittipaldi won his first in only his third year.

Now, what do these data tell us about Formula One in general? Principally, F1 is a young man's sport. Andretti, Jones, Rosberg, and Mansell are the only drivers who won the championship past age 30. Not without consequence they were one time champions. Multiple champions all won their first championship at age 30 or less. All multiple champions won their first F1 race by age 28 or less. Finally, all multiple champions entered F1 at age 26 or less.

Finally, what should sponsors and owners consider in evaluating drivers and their prospects? And, conversely, what should drivers coming through the ranks consider? In order to have even a reasonable chance of winning a world championship, a driver should enter F1 before turning 26, win before turning 28, not have more than 6 years experience in F1, and not be older than 30. Winning a world championship is a goal to which many drivers aspire, but which very few achieve. Not meeting certain goals by certain ages will certainly hinder a driver's chance of winning the championship.