De la Rosa believes it is 'terrible' to judge F1 drivers solely on their age, as he reckons that's what cost him a shot at a McLaren seat in 2008.
Although de Vries will be older than over half the F1 grid, he has gained a wealth of experience in other categories such as Formula 2 and Formula E, as well as working withDe la Rosa made his F1 debut at 28 with Arrows in 1999, and would go on to enjoy stints with Jaguar,The Spaniard said he had spoken with a Formula 3 driver who was already writing off his chances of reaching F1 because he thought he was too old at 20 - something the Spaniard felt was wrong.
"I'm always against the age sticker, because I've suffered it myself. Sometimes I've been in teams where they've taken another driver, saying he might not be faster, but he's younger. And this is a killer. "I completely disagreed with [the decision]. But it's your opinion against other people. And fair enough actually, it was a 10-year gap.
"Some drivers are already very good and stabilise, some decline, some progress. So every sportsman is different."De la Rosa admitted the possibility of what he could have achieved in the McLaren seat would"always hang over my head.""Maybe I would have been better for the team. Would I have beaten Lewis? For sure not. But possibly that was my strength, that I knew it was not my objective to beat him.
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