“There is no way”: Fans react as Kimi Antonelli remains on course to break Lewis Hamilton’s F1 record

Lewis Hamilton made his Formula 1 debut when Kimi Antonelli was barely a year old. In his rookie season driving for McLaren, Hamilton scored 109 points, which started his career of records as he became the driver with the most points in their debut season. Antonelli, driving for Hamilton's former team (Mercedes), has scored points in each race after he finished sixth or higher at the Australian, Chinese, and Japanese Grand Prixes.

This puts the new Mercedes driver on track to match Hamilton's record. Autosport pointed this out via an X (formerly Twitter) post on Sunday.

"Lewis Hamilton still holds the rookie record for the most points scored in a debut season... But Kimi Antonelli is currently on course to break it. He was only a 1 year old when it was set 👶 "

Fans took to the reply section to comment on the possible record-breaking trajectory of Antonelli, with some in disbelief and some excited for the future of the young Italian driver.

"There is no way"

"Can’t wait to see how much better he’s gonna be in a year or two 🤟," one fan wrote.

"Kimi Antonelli is one to watch, impressive for his age! 👀🏎️" - another replied.

However, most of the comment section was filled with fans pointing out the inaccuracy in the figure attributed to Lewis Hamilton, given that during his rookie season, the race winner would be awarded 10 points, while second place would win eight points and third would score six points, with each following position scoring one point less, with eighth place being the last scoring position.

"Totally different scoring system, this is a useless comparison and you know it."

"So Kimi needs like 265 points to match it based on points system and number of races" - a fan pointed out.

"10-point vs 25-point system." - another wrote.

After today's Japanese Grand Prix, Antonelli has scored a total of 30 points, putting him in fifth place in the Championship standings.

Kimi Antonelli discusses feeling of being the youngest driver to lead an F1 race

Kimi Antonelli on track during the F1 Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit on April 06, 2025 - Source: Getty

While possibly being on track to break Hamilton's record, Kimi Antonelli has also set two of his own. During today's race at the Suzuka Circuit, the Mercedes driver led 10 of the 53 laps, making him the youngest driver to ever lead a Grand Prix. He also broke Max Verstappen's record of being the youngest driver to set the fastest lap of the race.

Speaking about leading the Grand Prix, Antonelli was happy but more thrilled about the improvement in the car from the last race.

“It was a nice feeling," said Antonelli (via F1)

"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 next race in the calendar takes place at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir next weekend, from April 11-13.