Records Antonelli has beaten
Youngest polesitter
Previous record: Sebastian Vettel – 21y, 2m, 11d – 2008 Italian GP
New record: Kimi Antonelli – 19y, 6m, 18d – 2026 Chinese GP
Back in 2008, Sebastian Vettel took a shock pole position with the minnow Toro Rosso squad in a wet qualifying session at Monza. Frontrunners Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton were eliminated in Q2, while their team-mates at Ferrari and McLaren respectively, Felipe Massa and Heikki Kovalainen, were 1.339s and 0.076s slower in Q3.
Kimi Antonelli was nearly two years younger when he outpaced team-mate George Russell by 0.222s in Q3 at the Chinese Grand Prix last month.
Youngest fastest-lap scorer
Previous record: Max Verstappen – 19y, 1m, 14d – 2016 Brazilian GP
New record: Kimi Antonelli – 18y, 7m, 12d – 2025 Japanese GP
Max Verstappen put in a mighty performance in the wet-weather Interlagos race in 2016, fighting his way from 14th to third in the last 16 laps after a late pitstop, and setting the fastest lap by 0.227s in the process.
Antonelli was six months younger when he set the fastest lap in just his third grand prix, outpacing Oscar Piastri and Verstappen by 0.074s and 0.076s respectively on his way to a sixth-place finish in the Suzuka race last year.
Youngest race leader
Previous record: Max Verstappen – 18y, 7m, 15d – 2016 Spanish GP
New record: Kimi Antonelli – 18y, 7m, 12d – 2025 Japanese GP
When Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collided from the front row of the 2016 Spanish GP, the race turned into a four-way battle for victory between the Red Bulls and the Ferraris. Max Verstappen took the lead for the first time in his career on lap 11, courtesy of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo’s first pitstop, on his way to victory on his Red Bull debut.
In Japan last year, Kimi Antonelli made his opening stint on mediums 10 to 12 laps longer than the five drivers ahead, therefore leading the race for 10 laps – he was three days younger than Verstappen’s record.
Youngest championship leader
Previous record: Lewis Hamilton – 22y, 4m, 6d – 2007 Spanish GP
New record: Kimi Antonelli – 19y, 7m, 4d – 2026 Japanese GP
Back in 2007, Hamilton’s F1 debut was the epitome of consistency, devoid of rookie mistakes. His career started with a nine-race streak of podium results. By the end of the fourth round at Barcelona, he was yet to win but still was the only driver to have finished every race in the top three. His 30 points from a maximum of 40 meant he led McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso by two and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa by three.
Fast-forward 19 years, and Hamilton’s replacement at Mercedes, Antonelli, has won two of the first three grands prix in the 2026 season, coming second to team-mate George Russell in the Melbourne opener. This has made him the championship leader, and he’s three years younger than Hamilton was.
Youngest hat-trick scorer
Previous record: Sebastian Vettel – 21y, 11m, 18d – 2009 British GP
New record: Kimi Antonelli – 19y, 6m, 18d – 2026 Chinese GP
In his first campaign at Red Bull, Sebastian Vettel proved dominant at Silverstone. The German took pole by 0.347s over Brawn’s Rubens Barrichello and led team-mate Mark Webber home by 15 seconds under the chequered flag, also outpacing the Australian by two tenths in the fastest-lap classification. It could have been a grand chelem, but Vettel briefly ceded the lead to Webber when he pitted for the last time.
Last month, Antonelli achieved not one but two hat tricks, in China and Japan. His pole position margin was always in a 0.2s-0.3s bracket, he set both fastest laps by a tenth, and beat Russell by a few seconds under the chequered flag on both occasions.
Records Antonelli can beat
Youngest grand chelem scorer
Current record: Max Verstappen – 23y, 9m, 4d – 2021 Austrian GP
It took a whopping 128 grand prix starts for Verstappen to achieve his first ever grand chelem, but he still beat Vettel’s previous record. On Red Bull’s turf, in his maiden title-winning campaign, Verstappen took pole by just 0.048s over Lando Norris, outpaced everyone by over a second and a half for the fastest lap, and led every lap to win by 18 seconds over Valtteri Bottas.
Antonelli has every chance of beating this record, as long as he achieves a grand chelem before the end of May 2030.
Youngest world champion
Current record: Sebastian Vettel – 23y, 4m, 11d – 2010 Abu Dhabi GP
Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso and Verstappen all became world champions at the same age – within a 10-month bracket. The German was the youngest of all when he gave Red Bull its first title.
Antonelli will steal Vettel’s thunder if he wins the title by 2029. On 25 December that year, he’ll be exactly 23 years and four months old.
Records Antonelli cannot beat
Youngest winner
Current record: Max Verstappen – 18y, 7m, 15d – 2016 Spanish GP
In the 2016 Spanish GP, Verstappen became not only the youngest race leader in history but also the youngest grand prix winner, two years and a half younger than Vettel at Monza in 2008.
Antonelli needed to win one of the first three grands prix in 2025 in order to snatch that record away.
Youngest podium finisher
Current record: Max Verstappen – 18y, 7m, 15d – 2016 Spanish GP
In the same race as his maiden victory, Verstappen became F1’s youngest podium finisher – but that particular record subsequently was at threat on several occasions. Lance Stroll was just 12 days older when he finished third in the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and Antonelli two months older at the time of his maiden podium finish in Canada last year.
The Italian finished fourth on debut in Melbourne – one place better would have given him the record.
Youngest points scorer
Current record: Max Verstappen – 17y, 5m, 29d – 2015 Malaysian GP
This one will likely never get beaten, with drivers now unable to secure a superlicence – which is required to compete in F1 – before the age of 18.
Verstappen was the only under-18 to ever partake in the world championship, and he scored points in just his second race start, finishing seventh in Malaysia.
