Stoffel Vandoorne insists he does not feel bitter that it took him so long to break into formula one.
2016 rookies including Pascal Wehrlein (21) and Esteban Ocon (20) are considerably younger than 24-year-old Belgian Vandoorne, who will make his full debut for McLaren next year.
Not only that, Vandoorne is among the best prepared rookies to ever debut in F1, but he had to watch the likes of Max Verstappen skip most of the junior classes and make his debut at the tender age of 17.
"I have nothing against any of those people," Vandoorne insisted to Germany’s motorsport-magazin.com.
"You can’t compare them. Some people come to F1 faster than others. In extreme cases we have people like Max who arrive really quickly, and I am perhaps the other extreme example of someone who took a long time," he said.