The Youngest Ever F1 Drivers

Who is the youngest ever F1 driver? Where does Kimi Antonelli rank on the list? Here are the youngest ever drivers to race in Formula 1!

^{Header image: Lala_77, Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0}

17 years, 5 months, 15 days: Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen is the youngest driver to ever race in Formula 1, having made his debut at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix when he was 17 years, 5 months and 15 days old. Verstappen had already made his F1 weekend debut at the age of 17 years and 3 days old, when he competed in Free Practice 1 with Toro Rosso at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.

In his second Grand Prix – the 2015 Malaysian Grand Prix – Verstappen became the youngest driver to score a point in Formula 1, breaking the record by over two years. Then, just over one year after his debut, on his first appearance with Red Bull at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, Verstappen became the youngest ever driver to win a Formula 1 race. He took victory at the age of 18 years, 7 months and 15 days.

Verstappen remains the only driver to win a Grand Prix under the age of 21.

18 years, 4 months, 26 days: Lance Stroll

Lance Stroll joined Formula 1 at the start of 2017 with Williams. He made his debut at the 2017 Australian Grand Prix, at the age of 18 years, 4 months and 26 days.

Stroll rose to near the top of some F1 age record lists during his maiden season. He became the second-youngest driver to ever score a point in Formula 1 by scoring his first points on home turf at the 2017 Canadian Grand Prix. He became the second-youngest podium finisher in F1 history, having secured his maiden podium finish at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. He was just 12 days older than Verstappen was when he claimed his first podium at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.

Stroll also holds the record for being the youngest driver to start on the front row in Formula 1 history. He qualified fourth for the 2017 Italian Grand Prix but started from the front row as the result of grid penalties for other drivers.

18 years, 6 months and 19 days: Kimi Antonelli

When he makes his Formula 1 debut with Mercedes at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, Kimi Antonelli will become the third-youngest driver to race in F1. A number of age-related records are on offer for the Italian this year. If he wins one of the first three races of the season, Antonelli will break Verstappen’s record and become the sport’s youngest-ever winner.

In 2025, Antonelli also has the opportunity to become the youngest podium finisher, the youngest driver to lead a lap, the youngest driver to set the fastest lap and the second-youngest driver to score a point. No driver has taken a pole position under the age of 21, meaning that Antonelli has until November 2027 to become the sport’s youngest polesitter.

18 years, 10 months, 1 day: Ollie Bearman

With Carlos Sainz suffering from appendicitis, Ollie Bearman made an unexpected Formula 1 debut with Ferrari at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. He did so at the age of 18 years, 10 months and 1 day, which – at the time – made him the third-youngest driver to start a Grand Prix.

Scoring points on debut with a seventh place finish, Bearman became the third youngest driver in history to score points in Formula 1, after Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll – the only two drivers who had raced in F1 at a younger age than Bearman.

19 years, 4 months, 3 days: Jaime Alguersuari

In 2009, Toro Rosso fired Sebastien Bourdais mid-season and replaced him with Jaime Alguersuari at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix. The young Spaniard became, at the time, the youngest-ever Formula 1 driver in history.

At the age of 19 years, 4 months and 3 days, Alguersuari broke a 29 year old record by almost two months. The previous youngest driver to race in F1 was Mike Thackwell, who made his debut at the 1980 Canadian Grand Prix at the age of 19 years, 5 months and 29 days.

The 20 Youngest Ever F1 Drivers

The table below shows the 20 youngest drivers to race in Formula 1, with their age on the day that they made their Grand Prix debut.