There’s a youth movement underway in today’s Formula One, but the historic title of F1’s youngest Grand Prix drivers includes several from the annals as well.
| Six Youngest Grand Prix Drivers | ||||
| Rank | Driver | Season-Race | Age | |
| 1 |  Max Verstappen |
2015-Australia | 17Yr, 166Dy | |
| 2 |  Jaime Alguersuari |
2009-Hungary | 19Yr, 125Dy | |
| 3 |  Mike Thackwell |
1980-Canada | 19Yr, 179Dy | |
| 4 |  Ricardo Rodriguez |
1961-Italy | 19Yr, 207Dy | |
| 5 | Fernando Alonso |
2001-Australia | 19Yr, 213Dy | |
| 6 |  Esteban Tuero |
1998-Australia | 19Yr, 314Dy | |
Where driving talent is concerned, these days it can burgeon at an indecently young age through the highly competitive ranks of karting. Despite this, two of the six youngest drivers to start a Formula One GP raced their first 30 or more years ago. Sometimes these starts are inauspicious, at best. Thackwell collided with his teammate in 1980 and retired at the first corner. Alguersuari qualified dead last and finished just one place above the DNFs, having passed his Toro Rosso teammate. Alonso, on the other hand, qualified 19th and finished 12th for Minardi — although he was next-to-last on the track, ahead only of Giancarlo Fisichella’s Renault. Others, like Daniil Kvyat (tied for No. 6 all-time with Chris Amon) and Sebastian Vettel (No. 7 all time), fared a tad better (Q7, P8 for Vettel and Q8, P9 for Kvyat).
what is the age limit for a young driver and their qualification
There is no age requirement for an FIA superlicense, but drivers must have competed in a junior series and scored a minimum number of points. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIA_Super_Licence.
Verstappen being only 17 years of age is amazing. The Belgium flag in front of his name is just stupid as he’s Dutch!
He was raised in Belgium but races under the Dutch flag. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Verstappen. Thanks for pointing out the error.
His father was a good driver also. I remember him racing down under here in New Zealand in the 1990s. Won his share as well. STUART