Sebastian Vettel says he will be “very happy” for Kimi Antonelli to beat his record as Formula 1’s youngest world champion.
Vettel earned the accolade in 2010 at 23 years, four months and 11 days old, beating Lewis Hamilton’s 2008 record by five-and-a-half months.
Antonelli is increasingly likely to win this year’s title at just 20 years of age, with his Spanish Grand Prix victory boosting his advantage over main challenger and Mercedes team-mate George Russell to 81 points.
“I'd be very happy for him,” Vettel said in Monza. “He had an incredible year. There's the old phrase that records are there to be broken. He still has a lot of years ahead of him to do so.
“I love the sport, so as a spectator it's very exciting. I'd wish for the others to come back and be more in the mix. I'm independent and happy for [him] because I know how much work there is behind it to achieve it, and whoever will win will deserve it as well.”
Antonelli has already beaten some records of Vettel’s. The Italian youngster clinched his maiden pole position and his first hat-trick at 19 years old this year, when the German had achieved those feats at 21, back in 2008 and 2009.
The Mercedes driver expressed appreciation for his elder’s encouragement: “It's great. Seb is incredible. He's a friend of mine, always sends some messages after every race weekend or even before some of them.
“It's great to see so much support from him and so much appreciation as well. Definitely, I'm very happy to get his messages, and for sure they make a little difference in going into the weekend or even after.”
Antonelli also holds records as F1’s youngest fastest-lap scorer, race leader, championship leader and grand-chelem achiever, which he snatched away from Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
Verstappen retains records as the world championship’s youngest driver, points scorer, podium finisher and race winner.
F1’s top 10 youngest world champions
| Year | Driver | Team | Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 |  Sebastian Vettel |
Red Bull | 23y, 4m, 11d |
| 2008 |  Lewis Hamilton |
McLaren | 23y, 9m, 26d |
| 2005 |  Fernando Alonso |
Renault | 24y, 1m, 27d |
| 2021 |  Max Verstappen |
Red Bull | 24y, 2m, 12d |
| 2011 | Sebastian Vettel |
Red Bull | 24y, 3m, 6d |
| 2022 | Max Verstappen |
Red Bull | 25y, 9d |
| 2006 | Fernando Alonso |
Renault | 25y, 2m, 23d |
| 2012 | Sebastian Vettel |
Red Bull | 25y, 4m, 22d |
| 1972 |  Emerson Fittipaldi |
Lotus | 25y, 8m, 29d |
| 1994 | Michael Schumacher |
Benetton | 25y, 10m, 10d |
Additional reporting by Ronald Vording and Filip Cleeren
