Kimi Antonelli is off to a tremendous start to his F1 career

When you set a pair of records during an athletic event, you have accomplished something special.

That was exactly the case for young Kimi Antonelli during Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver found himself in the lead during the race on Lap 22, when a cycle of pit stops saw Antonelli inherit the lead from eventual winner Max Verstappen. That made Antonelli the youngest driver in Formula 1 history to lead a lap during a grand prix.

Antonelli added to his records later in the race. After making his pit stop on Lap 31 he rejoined the fight on a set of hard tires, and on Lap 50 posted a time of 1:30.965, which went into the books as the fastest lap of the race.

While that did not secure a bonus point for Antonelli and Mercedes, as F1 did away with that bonus point ahead of the 2025 season, it did see the young phenom secure his second record. That lap made Antonelli the youngest driver to finish a grand prix with the fastest lap in hand.

The driver who held both of those records before Antonelli?

None other than Verstappen himself.

Antonelli crossed the line in P6, marking his fourth points finish in four events this season. Antonelli began the year with a fourth-place finish in the Australian Grand Prix, followed by a P6 in the Chinese Grand Prix and a P6 in Suzuka. Add in his P7 in the F1 Sprint in Shanghai, and you have four consecutive points finishes to open the young driver’s F1 career.

The team sang his praises following the Japanese Grand Prix.

“Kimi meanwhile ticked off several more milestones today,” said Team Representative Bradley Lord in the team’s post-race report. “He has built his confidence over the weekend at a demanding track and achieved a solid result.

“He also led his first laps in F1 and took his maiden fastest lap, becoming the youngest driver in history to achieve these feats. His development is encouraging to see and it’s a third consecutive strong race performance from him.”

Mercedes Trackside Engineering Director Andrew Shovlin also praised the young driver.

“Kimi meanwhile ran longer on his opening stint and then showed good pace in clean air to extend,” said Shovlin. “That helped him not only cover the undercut from Lewis [Hamilton] but create a tire offset to those ahead. He used that to close onto the back of George by the end of the race and take fastest lap in the process.

“It was another mature performance from Kimi as he continues to build his experience.”

After the race, Antonelli noted that he enjoyed the records, but was more pleased with the overall performance, and the step forward from Shanghai.

“It was a nice feeling,” said Antonelli to the official F1 channel on the records he set Sunday.

“But what I’m most happy about is the fact that we had good pace, much better than China – especially on the hards, I felt really good out there and was able to put consistent laps in.”

The young driver also noted that his time in Japan has given him a confidence boost heading into the Bahrain Grand Prix, the second race in the first triple-header of the season.

“I was definitely much, much happier with how I finished the weekend because it was a really difficult start. Mentally, it was quite tough as well because when you start so far back, it’s difficult to make the switch,” said Antonelli.

“I was also happy with how Qualifying went, and today I did another step in terms of driving so definitely a good boost of confidence ahead of next weekend.”

Mercedes faced a massive decision regarding a replacement for Hamilton after the living legend announced his impending move to Ferrari. Team Principal Toto Wolff explored every available option on the grid, including a highly-publicized pursuit of Verstappen himself.

In the end, Wolff went with the young talent in their program, a decision that is already paying dividends.