Age was a ‘killer’ for de la Rosa’s McLaren F1 2008 seat chances

Nyck de Vries will join the F1 grid full-time in 2023 at the age of 28 with AlphaTauri after impressing in a one-off appearance for Williams at Monza this year.

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 with Mercedes in F1 as a reserve driver.

De la Rosa made his F1 debut at 28 with Arrows in 1999, and would go on to enjoy stints with…