OCTOBER 5, 2006

DC the doyen

Michael Schumacher's retirement and the disappearances of Jacques Villeneuve and Juan Pablo Montoya mean that the older generation of F1 drivers has been cropped back considerably and the next man to feel the heat of impending retirement is none other than David Coulthard, who at 35 is two full years younger than Schumacher (but almost the same age as Villeneuve). DC is a year older than Rubens Barrichello who in turn is seven months older than Giancarlo Fisichella.

The older drivers are currently in the minority with only seven of the 22 now over 30. Behind DC, Rubens and Fisichella are Jarno Trulli (32), Ralf Schumacher (31), Tiago Monteiro (31) and the newest boy in the over-30 club Mark Webber, who turned 30 in August.

Takuma Sato and Nick Heidfeld join the gang over the winter.