Kimi Antonelli crossed the line in Miami to complete a feat no F1 driver had ever achieved in Formula 1’s 76-year history. The record had eluded every one of the 781 drivers who have taken to the grid, including some of the greatest F1 has ever seen.

On Saturday, the Italian teenager put himself in legendary company by equaling an Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher record… but Sunday was about leaving them behind. He achieved a level of perfection that both Senna and Schumacher fell short of, i.e., converting his first three poles into his first three race wins and cementing a unique place in the sport.

Senna got his first three poles in consecutive races (Portugal, San Marino, Monaco) in 1985. They yielded only one win; he failed to finish the latter two. The Brazilian was classified as a finisher in San Marino, as he had completed 90% of the race before his fuel ran out. Schumacher achieved the feat in 1994 with poles in Monaco, Spain, and Canada. While he took the flag in Monaco and Canada, the German finished +24.166 seconds behind Hill at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Antonelli’s win, in a time of 1:33:19.271, saw him cross the line +3.264 ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and +27.092 ahead of Oscar Piastri.

Kimi Antonelli overcame a bad start in his Miami GP win

Miami was not a lights-to-flag race or one similar to Antonelli’s maiden win in Shanghai. It was more like the win in Suzuka, as the teenager dropped back at the start. An opening lap lock-up on turn 1 saw him surrender the lead to Charles Leclerc. 

Antonelli passed Leclerc on the final corners of lap 4 to regain the lead, before losing it on the next lap. He fell to third behind Norris on the same lap. 23 laps later, he regained and held the lead until the checkered flag.

In doing so, he also became the first Italian since Alberto Ascari to win three straight Grand Prix. He also became the first Mercedes driver to clinch three straight Grand Prix since Lewis Hamilton did so at the end of the 2021 season with wins in Brazil, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia. 

After the win, Kimi Antonelli remained grounded and opted to focus on aspects he needed to improve.

He said, “The start was not as bad as yesterday – it was a little bit better! I didn’t expect Charles to brake that early, so to avoid him I locked up. I was a bit lucky with what happened [with Verstappen] in Turn 2. I did a little mistake with the energy management, trying to overtake Charles, then I lost a place to Lando, but then the pace was strong and I was able to stay close. Then the team did a great strategy; we did a massive undercut, and we managed to bring it home.”

Antonelli’s victory also ended an unusual streak at the venue, where in four previous editions, no driver had managed to win from the front row.

Now, Antonelli will be extremely confident as he heads into the three-week break ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix.

Antonelli can surpass four former world champions in Canada

Neither Senna nor Schumacher secured a fourth consecutive pole. Senna missed out in 1985 by just +0.289 seconds to Elio de Angelis. Nine years later, Schumacher missed out, qualifying +0.425 behind Damon Hill at Magny-Cours. A pole at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve gives Antonelli the chance to eclipse two of the sport’s biggest icons.

A victory would also move him past the duo of Damon Hill and Mika Hakkinen, who also won their first three Grand Prix in three consecutive race weekends.

Damon Hill won three straight in his second F1 season (Hungary, Belgium, and Italy) in 1993 before finishing third in Portugal despite starting from pole. Interestingly, he had qualified in second place for each of these three wins. 

Hakkinen, on the other hand, took the flag in the 1997 season finale at Jerez, before winning the opening two races of 1998. In Argentina, he led for 14 laps through the pit stop window before finishing second.

For a driver rewriting record books, Kimi Antonelli seems to have little interest in the history he’s making. The Italian already holds the record for most F1 wins as a teenager, having clinched it in Japan last month to overtake Verstappen. Now, with eight races left before Antonelli turns 20, he aims to extend his record of three.

All eyes will be on Montreal to see if the rookie phenom can continue his assault on the record books.