Here's a wild thought experiment. Sepang's making a comeback to the F1 calendar in 2026 after nearly a decade away, and it's got us thinking about where today's grid was when Malaysia last hosted a Grand Prix back in October 2017. Nine of the current 22 drivers were actually there that day. The other 13? They either weren't in Formula 1 yet or, in some cases, hadn't even started their junior careers. It's mad how much has changed in less than a decade.

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So who was at Sepang that day? Max Verstappen absolutely dominated the race, winning from third on the grid ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo. Hamilton was a three-time champ then, not yet the seven-time legend he'd become. Sergio Pérez was racing for Force India with rookie teammate Lance Stroll, who was just 18 and finished eighth. Fernando Alonso was enduring one of his worst seasons ever in that terrible McLaren-Honda, limping home in eleventh. Nico Hulkenberg had just joined Renault, Valtteri Bottas was at Mercedes finishing fifth, and Carlos Sainz was still a Toro Rosso driver before engine failure ended his day. Oh, and Pierre Gasly? That race was literally his Formula 1 debut. The Frenchman replaced Daniil Kvyat for that one race and finished fourteenth. Now he's back with over 100 Grands Prix under his belt.

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Fast forward to 2017, and some of today's stars were absolutely nowhere near F1. George Russell was crushing it in GP3 as a 19-year-old, already locked into Mercedes' academy. Charles Leclerc was a 19-year-old Ferrari academy member dominating Formula 2 with Prema, though he did make a surprise cameo in FP1 at Sepang for Sauber. Lando Norris was just 17, juggling F3, F2, and test driver duties at McLaren. Alex Albon was doing his first full F2 season with ART, while Oscar Piastri was a mere 16-year-old rookie in British F4 with Arden.

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But here's where it gets properly bonkers. Kimi Antonelli was only 11 years old, racing Mini 60 karts for Tony Kart, nowhere on Mercedes' radar yet. Isaac Hadjar had just turned 13 and was grinding away in junior karting with nothing to show for it. Gabriel Bortoleto was 12, racing OK-Junior karts with CRG. And Arvid Lindblad? Also 11, still in cadet karting. These kids were years away from anyone even knowing their names. Now they're the future of Formula 1. Mad, right?

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