How Antonelli has made the strongest points-scoring start to an F1 season in 10 years

Kimi Antonelli has already made history in 2026, with the 19-year-old becoming the sport’s youngest-ever championship leader when he climbed to the top spot after his second victory of the campaign in Japan.

The Italian then sealed another record with his latest triumph in Miami, which marked the first time that a driver has converted their first three pole positions into three consecutive wins.

With 100 points to his name, Antonelli has also enjoyed the strongest points-scoring start to an F1 season in 10 years – and, incidentally, the last time such a feat occurred was via another Mercedes driver…

Antonelli matches Rosberg’s achievement

Antonelli is the first name to record this tally of points after the fourth round of the championship since Nico Rosberg’s succession of victories at the start of 2016.

Having missed out on the title to team mate Lewis Hamilton for two years prior, Rosberg appeared in determined form when the 2016 campaign got underway, earning 100 points by claiming back-to-back wins in Australia, Bahrain, China and Russia.

While Antonelli has taken one fewer Grand Prix victory on a total of three, the youngster’s P2 in Australia coupled with a P5 and P6 in the China and Miami Sprints respectively, brings his total score up to the same number.

Rosberg’s run was disrupted one round later in 2016 after an infamous first-lap collision with Hamilton in Barcelona put both out of the race – and opened the door for a certain Max Verstappen to claim his maiden F1 victory – the Dutchman becoming the youngest-ever race winner at 18 years old.

Fast-forward 10 years and Antonelli just missed out on snatching that particular accolade himself, having to settle for being the second-youngest Grand Prix victor instead when he took his debut win in Shanghai.

But if the statistics in 2026 were to continue to match the rest of Rosberg’s campaign – in which the German went on to clinch the title – the teenager would make history by becoming the sport’s youngest-ever World Champion.

Mirroring Hamilton’s scoring pattern

In terms of his race finishes across the opening four rounds, Antonelli has matched a pattern achieved by Lewis Hamilton back in 2021.

Kicking off his title defence following his seventh Drivers’ crown in 2020, Hamilton took victory in the Bahrain season-opener – and while he finished second to title rival Max Verstappen at the next round in Imola, Hamilton returned to winning ways in Portugal and Spain.

Holding three victories and one second place from the first four rounds mirrors what Antonelli has achieved in 2026 – but with there having been no Sprints at that stage of the 2021 season, Hamilton’s points total stood at 94, meaning that he held fewer than Antonelli’s tally.

While Rosberg went on to win the championship in that aforementioned 2016 campaign with a total of nine wins, Hamilton would go on to score eight victories in 2021 but missed out on the World Championship to Verstappen in a dramatic Abu Dhabi finale.

As such, in this instance, if Antonelli continued to match Hamilton’s season then he would not take the title at the end.

Other strong starts to a season

Going back a little further, Hamilton also experienced the same pattern across the opening four rounds of 2015, claiming three Grand Prix victories in Australia, China and Bahrain along with a second place in Malaysia, a race that marked Sebastian Vettel’s maiden win for Ferrari.

This gave the Briton 93 points after those first four races – and ultimately he would beat Rosberg to the World Championship in that campaign, notching up a total of 10 wins.

Similarly, the same results were achieved by Vettel during the first four rounds back in 2011, the Red Bull driver taking 93 points from wins in Australia, Malaysia and Türkiye plus a P2 finish in China.

Again, Vettel went on to clinch what would be the second of his four Drivers’ Championships with a total of 11 victories.

Now, many years later, all eyes are on Antonelli as fans wait to see whether or not the youngster can follow in the footsteps of these illustrious names…