Andrea Kimi Antonelli shattered record after record during the Suzuka race. The Mercedes driver took the lead in the race, thanks in part to the pit stops of the eventual top three. With a four-day difference, the Italian became the youngest ever race leader, breaking Max Verstappen’s record. However, Antonelli didn’t stop there, and during the same Grand Prix, he became the youngest driver to clock the fastest race lap.
It was a close call, and Andrea Kimi Antonelli almost didn’t manage to claim Max Verstappen’s record. The Dutchman was only four days older than Antonelli during the Suzuka race when he took the record for youngest race leader ever from Sebastian Vettel. Antonelli ultimately finished sixth in Japan, thus scoring points for the third time in a row. The Italian matched another record: the Mercedes driver is the first rookie since Lewis Hamilton to score points in his first three races. Moreover, Antonelli is the first teenager to achieve this feat.
“It felt good,” the record breaker responds after the race to the news that he has broken Max Verstappen‘s record. “But what I’m most happy about is that we had a good pace. It felt much better than in China. Especially on the hard tire. I was able to drive really consistent good laps on that tire. That was a good feeling.”
Boost to Confidence
It was Antonelli’s first time racing at Suzuka, and the driver therefore had startup problems on Friday. During the second free practice, the Mercedes driver clocked the sixteenth time. “I am certainly much happier with how I ended the weekend (than I started). It was a difficult start, mentally as well. When you start so far back, it’s mentally difficult to flip that switch. I was therefore happy with how the qualification went, and today I was able to take another step forward. That definitely works well for my confidence.”
As if Antonelli hadn’t broken enough records in Suzuka, the Italian also set the record for the fastest lap in a race on the Japanese circuit ever. With a time of 1:30.965, Lewis Hamilton‘s successor broke the record of the seven-time world champion from 2019.
