3 Max Verstappen records that Kimi Antonelli can't break

Mercedes recently announced that they will hire Kimi Antonelli as their permanent driver for the 2025 F1 season. The Italian will only be 18 and a half years old when he makes his debuts on the F1 grid.

Despite being so young, Antonelli will not be able to break some "youngest driver" records set by current world champion Max Verstappen. This is because Verstappen joined the sport back in 2014 when he was much younger than Antonelli.

After Red Bull decided to race the young Dutchman when he was so young, the FIA stepped in to set the minimum age required to race in the sport. They increased the age to 18, which is why Antonelli will be unable to break certain records set by the Red Bull star.

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Three Max Verstappen records Kimi Antonelli will never break in his career

#1 Youngest driver to take part in a race weekend

Max Verstappen has been under the Red Bull umbrella since 2014. That first year itself, the Austrian team wanted to test their new junior driver in F1 and Verstappen took part in a practice session in the 2014 F1 Japanese GP.

The Dutchman replaced Jean-Eric Vergne of Toro Rosso (currently RB). On that day, he was only 17 years and three days old and managed to secure P12 in the practice session after clocking in 22 laps. Verstappen broke Sebastian Vettel's record of being the youngest F1 driver to participate in a race session. Before him, Vettel had participated in a practice session in the 2006 Turkish GP when he was only 19 years and 53 days old.

Kimi Antonelli's first opportunity to drive in an F1 practice session came during FP1 at the 2024 F1 Italian GP. The youngster drove George Russell's car in the session but soon crashed out at the Parabolica turn. On that day, Antonelli was 18 years and five days old, almost a year older than Verstappen was in 2014.

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#2 Youngest driver to start an F1 race

Soon after Red Bull realized Max Verstappen's potential from his previous junior categories and his first FP1 race session, they decided to welcome him to F1. In 2015, Verstappen was hired by Red Bull's B team, Toro Rosso.

Starting his first Grand Prix in Australia, he became the youngest F1 driver to start a race in history. On the day of the race, the Dutchman was only 17 years and 166 days old. This record was previously held by Jaime Alguersuari, who raced in his first F1 Grand Prix in Hungary when he was only 19 years and 125 days old.

In Australia, Verstappen qualified 12th but had to retire from the race due to an engine issue.

This record has also slipped away from Kimi Antonelli's hands since he is already 18 years old and will potentially start his first race at 18 years and 203 days old.

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#3 Youngest driver to score points in a race

Scoring points in a race is the first big achievement for every F1 driver. Max Verstappen clinched that achievement quite early in his career. In the second race of his F1 career in Malaysia, the then-Toro Rosso driver secured P7 and scored six points. At the time, he was only 17 years and 180 days old, breaking the record of youngest F1 driver to score points.

A year before that, it was Daniil Kvyat who had become the youngest to score his first points, doing so at the 2014 F1 Australian GP when he was 19 years and 324 days old.

Since Kimi Antonelli will race for Mercedes in 2025 having already crossed the 18-year mark, the Italian will be unable to break this record as well.