Formula 1, NASCAR and IndyCar: The youth movement is real

By Asher Fair | Oct 4, 2019

NORTHAMPTON, ENGLAND - JULY 14: Charles Leclerc of Monaco driving the (16) Scuderia Ferrari SF90 leads Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (33) Aston Martin Red Bull Racing RB15 on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain at Silverstone on July 14, 2019 in Northampton, England. (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images) /

The year 2019 has illustrated that the youth movement is very much real across Formula 1, NASCAR and IndyCar, and it is time to accept it.

Every so often in Formula 1, the NASCAR Cup Series and IndyCar, we hear that we are in the midst of a “youth movement”, when young drivers rise and start to take over as regular race winners and championship contenders in these series.

This has been a common theme over the last few seasons in all three series. Now in 2019, it is clear that there is a youth movement going on across all three, and it is time to accept it.

While there have been doubters along the way, specifically due to the fact that the older generation of drivers have still had their way by winning a number of recent championships, there are several key facts and figures to note in Formula 1, NASCAR and IndyCar that prove that the youth movement is, in fact, a real thing.

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In Formula 1, 21-year-old Charles Leclerc, who is in his first season driving for Ferrari and just his second season driving in Formula 1, leads the series in pole positions with six.

He is two pole positions clear of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, the five-time and soon-to-be six-time champion who holds the all-time pole record of 87.

Leclerc became the second youngest polesitter in Formula 1 history when he took the pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix, and he became the third youngest winner in Formula 1 history when he won the Belgian Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen, meanwhile, just turned 22 at the end of September. The youngest race winner in Formula 1 history from back in 2016 at the age of 18 became the fourth youngest polesitter in the sport’s history by taking the pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Verstappen is a seven-time Grand Prix winner, and he had earned five of these victories at an age when no other driver in Formula 1 history had won one race. By his current age, all Formula 1 drivers in history have combined to win just five races. Leclerc accounts for two of those victories.

Rookies Lando Norris, Alexander Albon and George Russell have also shown promise in 2019 as they seek to land competitive rides in the near future.

In NASCAR, nobody has taken more pole positions this season than 21-year-old William Byron. Byron sits tied atop the poles list with Kevin Harvick, the 2014 champion who has won all four of the series’ crown jewel events at some point, with five.

Byron’s teammate Chase Elliott has become a perennial race winner at the age of 23. In the last 14 months, he has won six races. Believe it or not, nobody in the Cup Series has won more races than he has during this span.

Since arriving in the Cup Series in 2016 at the age of 20, Elliott has never finished outside of the top 10 in the championship standings, and he has quickly shed the nickname of “Chokin’ Chase Who Can’t Win A Race”, the go-to moniker for critics whenever he finished in second place in the 2016 and 2017 seasons.

In IndyCar, nobody took more pole positions in 2019 than 19-year-old Colton Herta. Herta ended up tied atop the poles list with Will Power and Simon Pagenaud, two former series champions and Indianapolis 500 champions, with three.

Throughout his rookie season, Herta became the youngest ever race winner at the age of 18, the youngest ever polesitter at the age of 19, and the youngest driver to win from the pole position at the age of 19.

Despite enduring the worst four-race stretch for any driver since the 2011 season and finishing in 33rd (last) place in the double points-paying Indy 500, he finished in seventh place in the championship standings with two victories.

The 21-year-old rookie Santino Ferrucci also impressed this year, finishing in fourth place in the oval championship standings driving for Dale Coyne Racing, a team that have competed in IndyCar since the 1984 season but entered the 2019 season just four top four finishes in oval races — ever.

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Deny it all you want to; the youth movement across Formula 1, NASCAR and IndyCar is real. The young guns are the drivers showing the most raw speed on a weekly basis, and as they continue to channel this raw speed into race victories, don’t be surprised when the guard truly changes and they start winning championships.

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