It has become conventional wisdom that Formula 1 is failing young drivers. That Williams brought 35-year-old Felipe Massa out of retirement to take the seat vacated by Mercedes-bound Valtteri Bottas is regarded as another symptom of this problem.
This year's grid features just one rookie: Lance Stroll. But there's plenty of evidence this is a temporary anomaly and the trend for new opportunities in the last decade has been more encouraging than you might think.
In this post-truth world, it's more important than ever to drill down into the facts and ask what they bear out. After all, we've seen one of the most exciting young talents in a long time break through in Max Verstappen over the past two years, and it's not enough simply to dismiss him as a trend-bucking outlier. And in this case, there are some surprising findings.