Max Verstappen has logged a staggering number of F1 records during a glorious career.
But there are two records that now no longer bear Verstappen’s name as they tumbled during the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.
On May 15, 2016, Verstappen became the youngest driver to lead a grand prix. It arrived in the most remarkable of circumstances, of course, following the astonishing first-lap crash between Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
On his debut for Red Bull following an early-season promotion from Toro Rosso, it was a race Verstappen went on to win.
On that day, Verstappen was aged 18 years and 228 days old.
Age records were always going to be hard to beat given how young Verstappen was when he first entered Formula 1.
In joining Mercedes this year, Kimi Antonelli had an opportunity to break a Verstappen record or two – and he did just that during the Japanese Grand Prix.
When Antonelli inherited the lead on lap 22, he captured the Verstappen record for the youngest to lead an F1 race – at 18 years and 226 days – breaking it by just two days!
Twenty-five laps later, Antonelli then captured another Verstappen record, and this one may take some beating.
In the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix, Verstappen captured the record for the youngest driver to claim the fastest lap of a grand prix, doing so at 19 years and 44 days.
This record has fallen a little more comfortably in Antonelli’s direction. Regardless, his name is now etched in the record books.
