Damon Hill drops 5-word remark for Kimi Antonelli as the Italian becomes the youngest driver to lead an F1 race

Damon Hill made a five-word remark about Kimi Antonelli turning into a 'star driver' already after his record-breaking feat at the Japanese Grand Prix. The Italian driver became the youngest driver ever to lead an F1 race at Suzuka on Sunday.

Kimi Antonelli has had a brilliant start to his F1 career with Mercedes, and the rookie continued his rich vein of form on Sunday with a P6 finish at the Japanese GP. This marks the third consecutive race that he has finished in the top 6 to commence this season.

The 18-year-old started the race from P6, and while he stayed in that position for majority of the race, he did manage to lead a few laps in the middle phase of the race, as the five drivers infront of him all pitted before him. Antonelli beat Max Verstappen's record, which the Dutchman had set back in 2016, by just four days.

1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill shared his thoughts about Antonelli breaking the record, and said the Italian was quickly turning into a star on the grid already after just three races.

"As is this young fella"

Screen grab of Damon Hill's instagram story [via instagram/96f1champ]

For context, Hill had posted a story just before this one, claiming that RB rookie Isack Hadjar is 'turning out to be a star driver', and was simply continuing his statement over to the next story.

As previously mentioned, Kimi Antonelli has had a solid start to his career in F1, and the rookie's most impressive performance possibly came on his debut, when he managed to come from P16 on the grid to claim a P4 finish, amid torrid conditions in Melbourne during round 1 of the 2025 F1 season.

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"A podium next": Kimi Antonelli reflects on his double record-breaking Japanese GP outing

Kimi Antonelli pitting from the lead of the race during the Japanese Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Kimi Antonelli told his Mercedes team that his next aim now is to get on the podium, after having started his F1 career in fine form with the Silver Arrows. The Italian also broke the record to become the youngest driver ever in F1 to claim a fastest lap during his Japanese GP outing on Sunday.

Mercedes shared a video of the Italian teenager from after the race on Sunday Instagram, in which he shared his aims of getting on the podium next.

"It was a push. I'm so happy I got fastest lap," Antonelli began.

Antonelli's team then told him that he became the youngest driver in F1 history to claim a fastest lap as well as the youngest to lead a race.

"Oh wow. Now is a podium next. Better qualifying," he continued.

Antonelli also shared that he was constantly pushing throughout the race at Suzuka. The Mercedes man pitted on lap 31 to get rid of his medium compound tires in favor of the hards. This was later than the drivers in front of him, and he hence led 10 laps during the race.