F1 analysis: From Mercedes to Red Bull - the ease of modern record-breaking
Andrea Kimi Antonelli achieved his personal best result in Brazil with a P2 that ended with a gleaming silver trophy and a pleased champagne celebration.
This achievement added 18 points to Antonelli’s standing, giving him a grand total of 122 - and there remains another three more races left to go until the season comes to an end.
The impressive amount of points has been the topic of much attention and praise, with Antonelli surpassing Lewis Hamilton’s long-standing record of 109 points scored in his rookie year.
Consequently, this has also led to much conversation and comparison between the two drivers as Antonelli filled the seat in Mercedes-AMG Petronas that had previously been Hamilton’s for 12 years.
However, this evaluation by Sports News Blitz writer Ellie Man is not as straightforward as the raw numbers suggest.
Has Kimi Antonelli beat Lewis Hamilton’s record for most points scored as a rookie?
Hamilton’s debut season in 2007 saw immense success, with the British driver standing on the podium for his first race with a P3 in Australia and going on to secure his first win only five races later in Canada.
Victoriously finishing on the podium for his first nine races, Hamilton became the youngest driver to lead the championship at the time and his debut is often praised as one of the most impressive rookie seasons of all time.
He placed second in the driver standings at the end of the year, narrowly losing out on the championship to Kimi Räikkönen by a single point.
But Formula 1 in 2007 looked vastly different to how the sport is carried out now.
With more races per season (17 in 2007 against 24 now), more points awarded per finish, points for top 10 race finishers as opposed to eight, and the addition of sprint races, the potential to score points is higher than ever before.
Without proper scaling, directly comparing figures across different years presents misleading statistics.
Adjusted to the current points system, the seven-time world champion would have achieved 265 points for his debut.
Eclipsing Antonelli by a huge 143 points, even if the Italian rookie placed P1 in all remaining races (including the upcoming sprint race in Qatar), he would not be able to match Hamilton’s record - with an extra seven races and 18 years later.
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Is Max Verstappen one of the greats?
Antonelli is not the only modern driver to benefit from changes in regulations and race formats.
Four-time world champion Max Verstappen is now the holder of many impressive records - for example, he is the youngest race winner in Formula 1’s history, winning in Spain in 2016, aged just 18.
He also has the most consecutive race wins at 10 in-a-row, outdoing Sebastian Vettel who won in Italy in 2008 aged 21 and held a record of nine straight wins.
Racing only under the 25-point structure, Verstappen’s massive season totals - such as a never-seen-before 575 points in 2023 - were made possible by the current points system, longer calendars, and a bonus point for the fastest lap (which has since been removed this season).
Prior to these changes, such a total would have been mathematically impossible.
As a result, legends such as Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost’s highest points totals only appear to be a small fraction of Verstappen’s achievement.
Senna scored a career best 96 points in 1991, and Prost won 105 points in 1988 - though lost the championship to Senna as the rules only counted the best 11 results out of the season’s 16 races, giving him 87 points against Senna’s 90.
The adaptation of the points system now better rewards consistency, reflecting the modern value of reliable and sustained performance across the season.
In 2004, Michael Schumacher scored 148 points, earning him his seventh and last world championship as he came P1 in 13 of the season’s 18 races.
But since then, the points structure has continued to change.
More races in one season offers more opportunities to score, and since 2010, wins are worth 25 points as opposed to the mere 10 awarded before.
Under the current points system, Schumacher’s 2004 season would have earned him 367 points - with six less races, no sprint races, and no points awarded for the fastest lap.
As records continue to be broken and regulations change to bring in adapted competitive structure, Formula 1 has ushered in a new era of modern greats, where drivers are building defining legacies and setting an updated standard for future talent.
In turn, these records will also be challenged and likely surpassed in time, giving way for the next generation of racing legends.
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