Max Verstappen retains his record as youngest Formula 1 winner

Get in Formula 1 is in itself an exceptional achievement, given that 20 places on the grid are precious. But doing it at 17 years old is a feat. Max Verstappen became, at 17 years, 5 months and 15 days, the youngest driver to take the start of a Grand Prix, in Australia in 2015.

Ten years later, the Dutchman is a four-time world champion and has just won his 64th Grand Prix, further increasing the mark he will leave on the history of the sport. His first victory dates back to the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, where he took advantage of the fratricidal collision between the Mercedes to head towards his first success in the premier category.

Max Verstappen was then competing in his first Grand Prix with Red Bull and was only 18 years, 7 months and 15 days old. Jos Verstappen's son became the youngest winner in Formula 1 history, beating Sebastian Vettel's previous record Hag almost three years (21 years, 2 months and 11 days when he won the 2008 Italian GP).

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Antonelli will not overtake Verstappen

For ten years, the Dutchman has held this record, which seemed unlikely to be beaten with the minimum age to start in F1 raised to 18. But a young prodigy has reshuffled the cards. By securing his promotion to Mercedes, a few months after the minimum age was lowered to 17, Andrea Kimi Antonelli put himself in position to become the youngest winner in the history of Formula 1. To do so, he had to achieve it in his first three Grands Prix.

The Italian made a remarkable debut, finishing 4th in his first race in Australia, followed by two 6th-place finishes in China and Japan. But he has yet to win his first race. He is now older than Max Verstappen, having turned 10 years, 18 months, and 7 days old on Thursday, April 16th, one day older than the Dutchman at the 2016 Spanish GP.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli, however, broke records for precocity, having notably become the first driver to score points in his first three Grands Prix since Lewis Hamilton in 2007. The rookie also became the youngest driver to lead a Grand Prix: by leading the Japanese GP for a few laps, he did better than Verstappen in Spain. The debut of the recent 6th Formula 2 are worthy of his immense talent, and many records seem to be opening up for him in the years to come.

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