It's never too late, McNish insists
Allan McNish has insisted he is not too old to finally earn his Formula One spurs.
The Scot will be 32 if he makes his debut for Toyota at the season-opening race in 2002.
McNish's belated arrival on the grand prix scene flies in the face of recent convention which has seen younger drivers preferred.
Fellow Brit Jenson Button was 20 when he started his career last year - while this season 21-year-old Finn Kimi Raikkonen and Spaniard Fernando Alonso, just 19, have made their debuts.
McNish looks set to join them on the grid after being told when Toyota launched their first grand prix car that he is virtually certain to partner Finn Mika Salo.
"When I was 19 or 20 I could drive an F1 car," said McNish.
"You do not lose the speed, but what I also have now is experience of life and other things outside racing. That's an important factor.
"It's not easy, but driving the car is not the most difficult bit. You have also got to be able to carry a team of 500 people and help develop a car, day in and day out. That only comes with experience."
The Dumfries-born racer has been told by Toyota's motorsport boss Ove Andersson that he will partner Salo next year unless the intensive year-long test programme which begins this weekend goes badly wrong.
"It is always good when someone like Ove gives you a pat on the back," said McNish, as he prepared for his first run in the car at the Paul Ricard track in the south of France.
"But when Toyota contracted me to the programme at the beginning of 2000 I didn't think they were doing it because I could test the car, but that I would be able to carry it through to the racing.
"I have been competing in motor sport since I was 11 or 12 and like any young driver I wanted to compete in F1.
"I have been close a couple of times before and when that happens you wonder if you are going to miss out.
"But now it is a case of keeping my head down and doing the job I have been for the past 18 months.
"It was an emotional moment seeing the car roll out for the first time, not just for me but for the whole team. Now that we've been given the toy we can get on with the testing."
