Antonelli closing in on Vettel's 16-year F1 record

Antonelli's early-season pace has put a long-standing Vettel benchmark within reach, which tells you something about how quickly the Italian has settled into a Mercedes seat that carries enormous expectation. Records set by Vettel tend to be the kind earned through sustained excellence rather than circumstance, so the fact that a rookie is threatening one is worth noting beyond the headline. How Antonelli handles that pressure — and whether the team's development trajectory supports the attempt — will say more about his ceiling than the record itself.