F1: The 10 Year Challenge for current drivers on the grid

The latest craze to be sweeping the internet is the 10 Year Challenge, where people upload a recent picture of themselves alongside one from a decade ago.

This has produced some hilarious results, ten years is a very long time, we all look a lot different from what we did in 2009.

That got us thinking though, how much have Formula 1's twenty 2019 drivers have altered since 2009, where most of them weren't F1 drivers yet.

In the case of a few, they weren't even teenagers yet, competing in karting championships in the hope of one day making it to the very top of the motorsporting world.

Like most of your friends' results, some of these will shock you, a few of the drivers are barely recognisable from '09.

Lewis Hamilton

It's fair to say that Lewis Hamilton's style has drastically changed in the last decade. In early 2009, he had just won his first driver's world title and was on top of the world.

Little did he know that McLaren would produce an awful car for the technical changes in '09 and he wouldn't have a realistic shot of defending his title.

Hamilton would have to wait until 2014 for another F1 crown, but the floodgates have been firmly open since then, winning four of the last five driver's championships and going for a sixth overall this year.

If anything, Hamilton looks older in his 2009 picture (where he's 24) than his 2019 one, just shows what a makeover can do for you!

Valtteri Bottas

After a rough season in 2018, Valtteri Bottas seems as though he'll be sporting a more rugged appearance this season, sporting facial hair for the first time ever. Aside from the face fluff, he doesn't look that different now to when he was 19 years of age.

10 years ago, the Finn was driving in European Formula 3, where he'd go on to finish 3rd overall that campaign.

The following year, in 2010, Bottas would become a test driver for Williams, and three years later, he'd become a full-time driver for the British outfit.

2019 will be a big year for Bottas as if he fails to perform well for the Silver Arrows, he'll be out of the door at Mercedes and replaced by Esteban Ocon.

Sebastian Vettel

Four stressful seasons at Ferrari has definitely aged Sebastian Vettel. Ten years ago, Vettel had become the youngest ever winner of a Grand Prix (at the time) thanks to his stunning victory for Toro Rosso at Monza, still the only podium for the Italian team.

The German as promoted to Red Bull for 2009 and the team from Milton Keynes would produce a great car for that season, but not quite good enough to win the title.

Vettel broke down and cried after he missed out in Brazil, but he needn't have worried, winning the next four driver's titles in a row with RBR. Could 2019 be the year he wins his fifth?

Charles Leclerc

Just to emphasize how young Charles Leclerc is now, a decade ago, he was just 11 years old. At the start of 2009, he was a three-time French karting champion, before moving onto the cadet karting series for '09 and winning that too.

He'd graduate to formula racing in 2014, winning GP3 in 2016 and Formula 2 in 2017. After a stunning first season at Sauber, he's now a Ferrari driver at just 21 years of age, it'll be fascinating to see how the Monegasque stacks up against Vettel in 2019.

Pierre Gasly

Recognise the uniform from 2009? That's the same team that Charles Leclerc was racing for in 2009.

After winning the French karting championship in 2008, Pierre Gasly graduated to international karting for '09 when he was 12.

Gasly would be promoted to single-seaters for 2014 and make his F1 debut in late 2017. Now, like Leclerc, he'll be racing for a top team in 2019 when he turns out for Red Bull.

Max Verstappen

Yeah, Red Bull have a very young line-up for 2019. It's had to believe that Max Verstappen will be in his fifth full season of Grand Prix racing this year, but that's exactly the case.

Ten years ago, Max Verstappen was 11-years-old, competing in the Flemish Minimax series and the Belgian KF5 championship, winning both.

Verstappen holds the record for youngest F1 driver, youngest podium sitter, winner, lap leader & fastest lap setter and he could become one of the youngest championship winners in 2019.

Daniel Ricciardo

That smile hasn't changed. Daniel Ricciardo has moved away from the Red Bull driver programme after over a decade with the company, as he has gone to pastures new at Renault.

At 19 years old in 2009, the Aussie was competing in British Formula 3, a championship that he'd win at the first attempt. Ricciardo's been in Formula 1 since 2011, the Honey Badger has been on our screens for a long time.

Nico Hulkenberg

2009 was a very big year for 21-year-old Nico Hulkenberg, the German was competing in GP2 (now Formula 2) and would win the championship at the first attempt.

Hulk would sign for Williams in 2010, but wouldn't get a chance again until Force India picked him up for 2012.

He now races at Renault and will be looking to break his podium duck in 2019 as Nico is currently holding the record for the most race starts without a top 3 finish.

Romain Grosjean

Romain Grosjean has thankfully sorted his hair out in the last decade, as the Frenchman was looking more like Shaggy from Scooby Doo than a racing driver in 2009.

'09 was the year when 22-year-old Grosjean made his F1 debut, replacing the outgoing Nelson Piquet Jr. midway through the season.

Grosjean wouldn't be retained for 2010, instead returning to GP2, where he'd win the title in 2011.

RoGro has been in F1 ever since 2012 but has stated he'd like to continue in the series until he's 40, which he turns in the year 2026.

Kevin Magnussen

Kevin Magnussen has lost his braces in the last ten years, and he's gained a decent F1 seat in Haas.

In 2009, when he was 16-years-old, Magnussen was competing in Formula Renault 2.0, a series he'd go on to finish second in the driver's championship.

KMag was made a part of the McLaren young driver programme in 2012, earning his debut two years later. The Dane has been at Haas since 2017 and has established himself well at the American team.

Carlos Sainz Jr.

2009, he's in the middle in case you can't tell

At 14, Carlos Sainz Jr. was tipped to be a real star in motorsport, and that has come true, showing his class many times in his F1 career so far.

The Spaniard was competing in European KF3 series and won the Junior Monaco Cup (as you can see in the first picture).

This victory would grab Red Bull's attention and get the son of the WRC champion signed for 2010 in single-seaters. He'd make his Formula 1 debut in 2015, driving for Toro Rosso, Renault and now McLaren.

Lando Norris

Forgive me if the first picture isn't from 2009, but photos of Lando Norris are extremely hard to find from back then, as he was only 9-years-old.

Norris will become the youngest driver on the F1 grid at the first race in Australia, but ten years ago, he was karting in the British leagues, despite initially being interested in motorcycles.

Lando would win the World Karting Championship in 2013, before moving to single-seaters and flying up the ladders to finish runner-up in F2 this year.

Sergio Perez

2009 was a hard year for Sergio Perez, as the 18-year-old struggled in GP2, finishing 12th in the standings that year.

He'd stick with it though, finishing runner-up in 2010, before graduating to F1 with Sauber for 2011.

He's driven for Force India (who are now Racing Point) since 2014, after an unsuccessful stint at McLaren.

Lance Stroll

Lance Stroll was definitely a cute kid at 10 and began his karting career that same year. His presence in Formula 1 is a controversial one, but the Canadian is slowly proving himself to be a decent driver at this level.

He made his F1 debut in 2017 and his move from the struggling Williams team to Racing Point could prove to be a make or break moment for his career, but then again, his dad is the team owner.

Kimi Raikkonen

One of the few drivers on the grid that was in the sport ten years earlier, and almost for the same team.

Kimi Raikkonen left Ferrari at the end of 2018, but he did the same after the 2009 season, where he'd go and rally for 2010 and '11.

His appearance has definitely aged a lot in this last decade, his 29-year-old image looking like an airbrushed version of his current self, aside from his hair which is much shorter these days.

Antonio Giovinazzi

Like Norris, apologies if that isn't a photo from 2009, images of Antonio Giovinazzi are hard to find from back then.

Ten years ago, 15-year-old Gio was still karting and would continue to do so until 2012. The Italian would then go onto race in China, an unusual route for a European driver.

After a brief F1 cameo in 2017, he returns to action at Sauber for 2019, after being a test driver for Ferrari in 2018.

Daniil Kvyat

Who would've thought that Daniil Kvyat was blonde as a kid? One thing that hasn't changed though, is the Russian's large teeth, something that inspired Ricciardo to label him as "Donkey" in reference to Shrek.

The then 14-year-old was in his final year of karting in '09 before he'd go on to single-seaters in Formula BMW.

Kvyat's been in and out of F1 since then and now returns to Toro Rosso for 2019, where he made his debut in 2014.

Alexander Albon

Looking at these two images would suggest that Alexander Albon had a straightforward time riding the Red Bull conveyor belt to F1, but this is far from the case.

The 12-year-old Thai was KF3 karting, where he'd stay until the end of 2010. He was a part of the RBR Junior team until 2012, being deemed not good enough.

But he'd defy the critics to finish third in last year's F2 championship and be resigned to Red Bull for 2019, just like his teammate. It just goes to show, you should never give up, even when hurdles are placed in your way.

George Russell

George Russell is still baby-faced at 20 so there's no surprise the Brit looked as young as he did at 10.

In 2009, Russell was still karting and would win the MSA British & British Open championships that year.

Single-seater would come in 2014, before winning the F2 championships last year and earning him a seat at Williams.

Robert Kubica

Robert Kubica may have lost a lot of his hair in the last decade, but that won't matter if he's retained his racing talent. After being out of a full-time drive since his 2011 rallying accident, Kubica returns to F1 for Williams.

In 2009, (when he apparently loved awful sunglasses) Formula 1's only ever Polish driver was preparing for another season at BMW Sauber, after challenging for the 2008 title.

That campaign would be a disaster for the 24-year-old, the Swiss-German outfit producing a rubbish car that only managed a single podium in Brazil.

Edited by Alan John