Lewis Hamilton’s rookie record: Who got closest and can Antonelli beat it?

Kimi Antonelli has become the first driver since Lewis Hamilton to score top-six finishes in each of his first three race weekends, and there is already talk of him challenging Hamilton’s long-standing rookie season points record.

We will get to the numbers behind the change in points system shortly, but with three solid races to begin his Formula 1 career, Antonelli has started brightly on his arrival to the grid.

How have recent F1 rookies matched up against Lewis Hamilton’s points record?

Hamilton scored 109 points in his rookie season back in 2007, which remains a record for a first-season driver in Formula 1 – made all the more impressive by the fact this took place under the previous, less generous points system.

Hamilton famously came agonisingly close to a title in his rookie season, finishing within one point of eventual title-winner Kimi Raikkonen, and level with then-McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso in what became a tense rivalry at the team.

The Briton scored podiums in each of his first nine races in Formula 1, with a mixture of his talent combining with being placed in front-running machinery from the beginning of his career.

A car that challenges for victories is rarely available to drivers in their first season, though the most recent example of a driver getting into a front-running car early is likely Alex Albon, who was promoted to Red Bull from Toro Rosso midway through 2019.

Below is a selected list of the drivers to get closest to Hamilton’s points tally of 109 in their first season in Formula 1, after the 2007 season:

Oscar Piastri (2023): 97
Alex Albon (2019): 92
Kevin Magnussen (2014): 55
Lando Norris (2019): 49
Max Verstappen (2015): 49
Lance Stroll (2017): 40
Charles Leclerc (2018): 39
Yuki Tsunoda (2021): 32
Kamui Kobayashi (2010): 32*
Heikki Kovalainen (2007): 30**

(*From his first full season in 2010, after two appearances for Toyota in 2009)

(**Previous F1 points system)

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Does Kimi Antonelli have the best chance yet to become F1’s all-time highest scoring rookie?

In theory, if Mercedes keep up their performance level in 2025, yes.

He is a driver who, alongside the likes of Kevin Magnussen at McLaren beforehand, has a seat at one of the sport’s biggest teams from the start of his Formula 1 career, with many rookies often finding a seat in the midfield or among the backmarkers to gather experience before finding their way to the front.

Unfortunately for Magnussen, however, his 2014 arrival coincided with regulation changes that saw McLaren fall away from contention at the front of the field overall, despite an opening podium in Australia.

While Hamilton’s points were scored in 17 rounds, the expansion of the calendar means the current crop of rookies has 24 Grands Prix – and six Sprints – in which to score as many points as possible.

With Antonelli having had the best start of the current crop of rookies, breaking two records in Japan to become the youngest ever race leader and fastest lap holder in Formula 1, and with the most competitive package of the young drivers in Formula 1, he has an opportunity to break Hamilton’s long-standing record, though if the seven-time World Champion’s points were translated into today’s system, he might have a long way to go.

How many points would Kimi Antonelli need to beat Lewis Hamilton’s rookie record under the current system?

Had Hamilton’s results from his rookie season been translated into the post-2010 points system of 25 for a win downwards, he would have scored 263 points instead of 109.

Because it was not a points-scoring position at the time, we have not included Hamilton’s P9 finish from the Nürburgring that season, but with that included, this would have taken his full-season total to 265 in 2007.

(For anyone curious about the whole 2007 season, Raikkonen would have scored 272 points under the current system and Alonso would have scored 266, so the title outcome would have remained unchanged.)

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