Record-breaker Antonelli aims higher after hitting front in Japan

Kimi Antonelli set his sights on a first grand prix win after the 18-year-old Mercedes rookie became the youngest driver to lead a Formula One race on Sunday in Japan.

The Italian, who finished sixth at Suzuka, briefly moved into first when leader and eventual winner Max Verstappen and the pack chasing him pitted midway through the race.

Verstappen was 18 years and 228 days old, four days older than Antonelli, when the Dutch four-time world champion first took a grand prix lead at Spain in 2016, a race he went on to win.

Antonelli, who lies fifth in the drivers’ championship on 30 points, said he would now aim even higher.

“It was a nice feeling to lead the race for a few laps and become the youngest driver in F1 history to have done so,” he said.

“The next goal is to do that on the only lap that matters: the final one.”

Antonelli finished one place behind teammate George Russell. 

He also finished fourth in the season-opener in Australia and sixth in China. 

Antonelli has 30 points and is the leading driver of the six full-season rookies on the grid in 2025. Next comes Haas’s Oliver Bearman back on five points.

The Italian said he was looking forward to making an impact at next week’s Bahrain Grand Prix.

“Every time I get in the car, I am building my learning and feeling more comfortable,” he said.

“Hopefully we can keep improving and begin to fight for some of the positions further forward than we managed today.”

Bradley Lord of Mercedes said Antonelli had “ticked off several more milestones today”.

“He has built his confidence over the weekend at a demanding track and achieved a solid result,” Lord said.

“His development is encouraging to see and it’s a third consecutive strong race performance from him.”