Mike Thackwell - Formula One Debut

Formula One Debut

For nearly 30 years, Thackwell was often listed as the youngest driver to start a Formula One event, although this claim was arguable. In his debut race, Alan Jones and Nelson Piquet collided on the first lap under the bridge after the start/finish line and were subsequently hit by a number of other cars, including Jean-Pierre Jarier and Derek Daly, both Tyrrell drivers. Mike Thackwell negotiated his way through the carnage and returned to the start/finish line undamaged as the race had been stopped. As both Jarier's and Daly's cars were too badly damaged to repair quickly, Thackwell was instructed by Ken Tyrrell to give up his car for Jarier. The race was then restarted after the wreckage was cleaned up. Under Formula One regulations, when the race is stopped on the first lap, the racing on that lap is annulled and the race starts anew when the cars take to the grid for the second time. If a driver was involved in the first lap incident and then can not bring their car back to the second start, they have technically not taken part in the Grand Prix. This is because the Grand Prix actually begins from the second start and the original start is struck from the results. Using these criteria, Ricardo Rodriguez was in fact the youngest race starter. Sebastian Vettel became in August 2006 the youngest driver to appear at a Grand Prix meeting, but only as a test driver. Jaime Alguersuari broke Thackwell's record at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, being 19 years 125 days old when he started the race.