List of Formula One driver numbers

Last updated

In Formula One, each car is numbered. Since the inaugural Formula One World Championship in 1950, several numbering systems have been used. This list covers the numbers used by drivers since the start of the 2014 Formula One season, when drivers have been allowed to choose a number that they would carry throughout their career. [1]

Contents

From 1950 to 1973, driver numbers were allocated by the organisers of each event, with no consistent method deployed across events. [2] In 1974 a consistent race-to-race numbering system was first implemented in Formula One, based on the 1973 Constructors' Championship results. These assigned numbers were supposed to stay with their teams as long as they were part of Formula 1 or until they ran the reigning World Drivers' Champion, in which case they would swap numbers with the team previously running numbers 1 and 2. In the event of the drivers' champion not returning, no swap would take place, and number 0 would be used instead of 1 — this only occurred in 1993 and 1994 with Damon Hill. A little over two decades later, in 1995, the system was changed again. The numbers would change every year, as the previous season's Constructors' Championship standings would be used to determine the order from numbers 3 and 4 downwards, with the team of the World Drivers' Champion still getting numbers 1 and 2. In 2014, it was decided to introduce the current system, where each driver gets to choose a permanent number. [3]

Drivers were initially allowed to choose any number from 0 through 99, with the exclusion of 1 which is reserved for the World Drivers' Champion. The number 17 was retired in 2015 as a mark of respect to Jules Bianchi, who suffered a fatal crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix while carrying the number. [4] The number 1 is reserved for the previous year's World Drivers' Champion, although it is not mandatory for the driver to run the number. The first driver to exercise the right to run the number 1 under the new regulations was Sebastian Vettel in 2014. The number then went unused for seven seasons, with Lewis Hamilton keeping his permanent number 44 after his title wins in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020, and Nico Rosberg retiring after his championship win in 2016. Max Verstappen is using number 1 in 2022, 2023 and 2024 after his titles in 2021, 2022 and 2023. [5]

The FIA have also issued temporary numbers to drivers that are exceptions to the career numbers rule; for example, if a driver withdraws from a race and a reserve driver takes their place, they receive a team-allocated number. This is also the case for free practice-only drivers. Some examples of those numbers are 36 (used by Antonio Giovinazzi in two races), 38 (used by Oliver Bearman in one race), 39 (used by Brendon Hartley in one race), 40 (used by Paul di Resta in one race and Liam Lawson in five), 45 (used by André Lotterer and Nyck de Vries in one race each), 46 (used by Will Stevens in one race), 47 (used by Stoffel Vandoorne in one race) and 51 (used by Pietro Fittipaldi in two races).

A permanent number can only be reallocated if the driver associated with that number has not participated in a race for two entire consecutive seasons; [6] for example, a driver picking their number for 2024 can not choose numbers which were last used in 2022 or 2023, unless the number was issued temporarily by the FIA. For instance, Jenson Button's number 22 would have been available for re-allocation in 2019 after his departure from full-time racing in 2016, but an appearance in the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix replacing Fernando Alonso (who was participating in the 2017 Indianapolis 500 on that weekend instead), meant that his number could not be reassigned until 2020 at the earliest. Yuki Tsunoda subsequently picked that number (22) for the 2021 Formula One World Championship.

Formula One driver numbers

The following lists all Formula One driver numbers which were claimed as permanent career numbers since the 2014 season.

No.Driver2024 teamFirst
used		Last
used
1Reserved for champion [N 1] 20142024
2 Flag of Belgium (civil).svg Stoffel Vandoorne [N 2] —20172018
Flag of the United States.svg Logan Sargeant Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Williams 20232024
3 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Daniel Ricciardo Flag of Italy.svg RB 20142024
4 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Max Chilton —20142014
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lando Norris Flag of the United Kingdom.svg McLaren 20192024
5 Flag of Germany.svg Sebastian Vettel [N 3] —20152022
6 Flag of Germany.svg Nico Rosberg —20142016
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Nicholas Latifi —20202022
7 Flag of Finland.svg Kimi Räikkönen —20142021
8 Flag of France.svg Romain Grosjean —20142020
9 Flag of Sweden.svg Marcus Ericsson —20142018
Russian Automobile Federation flag.svg Nikita Mazepin [N 4] —20212021
10 Flag of Japan.svg Kamui Kobayashi —20142014
Flag of France.svg Pierre Gasly Flag of France.svg Alpine 20172024
11 Flag of Mexico.svg Sergio Pérez Flag of Austria.svg Red Bull Racing 20142024
12 Flag of Brazil.svg Felipe Nasr —20152016
13 Flag of Venezuela.svg Pastor Maldonado —20142015
14 Flag of Spain.svg Fernando Alonso Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Aston Martin 20142024
16 Flag of Monaco.svg Charles Leclerc Flag of Italy.svg Ferrari 20182024
17 Flag of France.svg Jules Bianchi Number retired [N 5] 20142014
18 Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Lance Stroll Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Aston Martin 20172024
19 Flag of Brazil.svg Felipe Massa —20142017
20 Flag of Denmark.svg Kevin Magnussen Flag of the United States.svg Haas 20142024
21 Flag of Mexico.svg Esteban Gutiérrez —20142016
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Nyck de Vries [N 6] —20232023
22 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jenson Button —20142017
Flag of Japan.svg Yuki Tsunoda Flag of Italy.svg RB 20212024
23 Flag of Thailand.svg Alexander Albon Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Williams 20192024
24 Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg Zhou Guanyu Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Kick Sauber 20222024
25 Flag of France.svg Jean-Éric Vergne —20142014
26 Flag of Russia.svg Daniil Kvyat —20142020
27 Flag of Germany.svg Nico Hülkenberg Flag of the United States.svg Haas 20142024
28 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Will Stevens [N 7] —20152015
Flag of New Zealand.svg Brendon Hartley [N 8] —20172018
30 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jolyon Palmer —20162017
31 Flag of France.svg Esteban Ocon Flag of France.svg Alpine 20162024
33 Flag of the Netherlands.svg Max Verstappen [N 1] Flag of Austria.svg Red Bull Racing 20152021
35 Flag of Russia.svg Sergey Sirotkin —20182018
44 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Lewis Hamilton Flag of Germany.svg Mercedes 20142024
47 Flag of Germany.svg Mick Schumacher —20212022
53 Flag of the United States.svg Alexander Rossi [N 9] —20152015
55 Flag of Spain.svg Carlos Sainz Jr. Flag of Italy.svg Ferrari 20152024
63 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg George Russell Flag of Germany.svg Mercedes 20192024
77 Flag of Finland.svg Valtteri Bottas Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Kick Sauber 20142024
81 Flag of Australia (converted).svg Oscar Piastri Flag of the United Kingdom.svg McLaren 20232024
88 Flag of Indonesia.svg Rio Haryanto —20162016
Flag of Poland.svg Robert Kubica —20192021
89 Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Jack Aitken —20202020
94 Flag of Germany.svg Pascal Wehrlein —20162017
98 Flag of Spain.svg Roberto Merhi —20152015
99 Flag of Germany.svg Adrian Sutil —20142014
Flag of Italy.svg Antonio Giovinazzi [N 10] —20192021
Sources: [9] [10] [11] [12]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Max Verstappen exercised his right to use number 1 as the reigning world champion in 2022–2024.
  2. ↑ Vandoorne used number 47 while substituting for another driver in 2016.
  3. ↑ Vettel used number 1 when he was reigning World Champion in 2014.
  4. ↑ Mazepin is Russian, but he competed as a neutral competitor using the designation RAF (Russian Automobile Federation), as the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a ban on Russia competing at World Championships. The ban was implemented by the World Anti-Doping Agency in response to state-sponsored doping program of Russian athletes. [7]
  5. ↑ The number 17 was retired by the FIA following Bianchi's death in 2015. [8]
  6. ↑ De Vries used number 45 while substituting for another driver in 2022.
  7. ↑ Stevens used number 46 while substituting for another driver in 2014.
  8. ↑ Hartley used number 39 while substituting for another driver in 2017.
  9. ↑ Rossi used number 42 while substituting for other drivers in 2014.
  10. ↑ Giovinazzi used number 36 while substituting for another driver in 2017.

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References

  1. ↑ Sam Tremayne. "Formula 1 drivers to get permanent numbers from 2014". Autosport.com. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Killick, Ellie (8 March 2023). "The Evolution of F1 Driver Numbers: A Look Back Through History". It's All Sport To Me. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  3. ↑ "A look at the history of numbers in Formula 1". Squad Numbers. 7 November 2017. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  4. ↑ Parkes, Ian (20 July 2015). "The FIA will retire Jules Bianchi's number 17 from Formula 1". Autosport . Retrieved 11 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "Champion Verstappen to run No.1 on Red Bull in 2022 as he reveals congratulations from Wolff and Hamilton". Formula1.com. 14 December 2021. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  6. ↑ "2022 Formula One Sporting Regulations" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 29 April 2022. p. 8. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 April 2022.
  7. ↑ Luke Smith (5 February 2021). "Mazepin set to race under neutral flag after CAS ruling extends to F1". motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved 5 February 2021.
  8. ↑ "Number 17 to be retired in Bianchi's honour". Formula One World Championship Limited. 20 July 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  9. ↑ "F1 2014: The reasons behind the numbers". GP Update. GP Update. 8 February 2014. Archived from the original on 27 September 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  10. ↑ Tremayne, Sam (9 December 2013). "Formula 1 drivers to get permanent numbers from 2014". Motorsport. Motorsport.com. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  11. ↑ "2015 F1 driver numbers". Crash.net. Crash.net. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  12. ↑ "2021 and 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship Entry Lists". fia.com. FIA.com. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
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