From 2016 changes are being made to how a driver becomes eligible for a Super Licence; this is a result of the signing of Max Verstappen to Toro Rosso despite 2014 being his only season to date in single seaters and being 17 years old.
Under the new regulations Verstappen wouldn't be illegible for a Super Licence as a driver must be 18 years old, have spent at least two years in junior single seater category and hold a valid road driver's licence (driving age in The Netherlands is 18 or 17 with supervision). Further to this drivers would also have to pass a test on the Formula One Sporting Regulations - the existing requirement of completing 300 kilometres in a recent F1 car remains.
Furthermore, the various junior single seater categories will be allocated points based on FIA ranking and drivers must accumulate 40 points over a three year period. Controversially, the category that holds the most weight - with 60 points on offer for coming first in the championship - does not actually exist currently and is simply referred to as 'Future FIA 2 Championship', second to this is the GP2 series that offers drivers 50 points for first place in the championship; its sister series GP3 is ranked sixth behind European F3 (which Verstappen finished third in for the 2014 season), FIA WEC (LMP1 only) and IndyCar. Formula Renault 3.5 which has been the training ground for more and more of the grid (notably the drivers that have come through the Red Bull programme) is ranked seventh offering only 30 points for first in the championship.
Based on these new regulations it's quite shocking the drivers that would not actually qualify for a Super Licence; world champions Kimi Räikkönen, Jenson Button and possibly even Fernando Alonso (depending on what now defunct categories would be classed as ) would miss out had this rule been introduced in the early 2000s. Another big name that would have missed out would have been that of Felipe Massa. Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo would also miss out due to the lack of points being awarded to the Formula Renault championships and due to his lackluster GP2 career Marcus Ericsson too would not have made it to the grid.
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