who is the youngest pole sitter in f1
Kimi Antonelli is currently the youngest pole sitter in Formula 1 history, having taken pole at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix at 19 years old.
Quick Scoop: Youngest Pole Sitter in F1 🏁
Who holds the record now?
- Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes) became the youngest ever F1 Grand Prix pole sitter at the 2026 Chinese Grand Prix.
- His age at the time: about 19 years, 6 months, and 18 days.
- He beat Sebastian Vettel’s long‑standing record from Monza 2008, which stood for 18 years.
A bit of context
Before Antonelli:
- Sebastian Vettel held the record, set at the 2008 Italian GP with Toro Rosso, at 21 years and a little over 2 months.
- Antonelli had already made waves by becoming the youngest polesitter in any F1 race format (Sprint) before doing it in a full Grand Prix qualifying.
Other young stars on the list
Some other names among the youngest F1 pole sitters include:
- Charles Leclerc – first pole at Bahrain 2019 (21 years, 5 months).
- Fernando Alonso – Malaysia 2003 (21 years, 7 months).
- Max Verstappen – Hungary 2019 (21 years, 10 months).
Here’s a quick HTML table of several of the youngest F1 pole sitters:
html
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Driver</th>
<th>Age at First Pole</th>
<th>Grand Prix</th>
<th>Year</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>Kimi Antonelli</td>
<td>19 years, 6 months, 18 days [web:3][web:9]</td>
<td>Chinese GP</td>
<td>2026 [web:3][web:9][web:10]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Sebastian Vettel</td>
<td>21 years, 2 months, 11 days [web:3][web:5]</td>
<td>Italian GP (Monza)</td>
<td>2008 [web:3][web:5]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Charles Leclerc</td>
<td>21 years, 5 months, 15 days [web:3]</td>
<td>Bahrain GP</td>
<td>2019 [web:3]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Fernando Alonso</td>
<td>21 years, 7 months, 23 days [web:3]</td>
<td>Malaysian GP</td>
<td>2003 [web:3]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Max Verstappen</td>
<td>21 years, 10 months, 5 days [web:3]</td>
<td>Hungarian GP</td>
<td>2019 [web:3]</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.