'Twenty years older and $1billion poorer': F1 fans astonished by Lewis Hamilton photo

Fans have been left astonished by a photo of a young Lewis Hamilton circling on social media.

Hamilton is now 40 years old and is the most successful driver in the history of the sport, holding the most grand prix victories, podiums and pole positions in F1 history, and the joint-most amount of world championships with seven.

However, it is Hamilton's journey to F1 that has now got fans talking on social media, and that's because an adorable photo of the seven-time world champion has been circling online, from 2006.

Hamilton joined feeder series GP2 - now known as F2 - for the 2006 season, and took it by storm, winning five races on his way to the title while competing under his current boss Fred Vasseur.

It was during that 2006 season in which Hamilton was given a test for McLaren around the Silverstone Circuit, and impressed so much that he was signed to the team for the 2007 season.

And it was also during this season that the British driver was interviewed by ITV Sport, for which the then-21-year-old has now been ridiculed.

A picture of a fresh-faced Hamilton from that interview has been circling on social media, with fans instantly taking to the comments to poke fun at the seven-time champion.

One user said: "He looked 20 years older and $1 Billion poorer in this picture," while another said: "Omg 15 years of watching F1 I've never seen this picture before."

Others were more kind to the seven-time champion, with one fan revealing quite how ridiculous it is to be talking about his looks: "Breaking News: Normal man ages," while another said: "Damn almost like he had no control over his hair loss. So, what's your point?"

Hamilton's rookie year

Following that successful 2006 season in GP2, Hamilton made his F1 debut for McLaren at the 2007 Australian Grand Prix.

What followed was one of the greatest rookie seasons that F1 has ever seen, with Hamilton securing four race victories and missing out on the world championship by just a single point to Kimi Raikkonen.

Hamilton has, of course, added a further 101 grand prix victories and seven world championships since then, becoming the most successful driver in the history of the sport.

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