With the 2025 season creeping ever closer, the driver numbers have been confirmed for what is sure to be another exhilarating campaign of Formula 1 action.
What’s more, considering a quarter of the 2025 grid will be made up of rookies, there are several new numbers to look out for on-track – including some that have been held before by some very successful predecessors.
Why do F1 drivers have numbers?
Previously the drivers’ race numbers in Formula 1 were assigned based on each team’s ranking in the previous year’s championship. However, in 2014 that system was changed, with the drivers then allowed to pick a number that would stick with them throughout their F1 career.
That rule was brought in to help increase the personal branding of the drivers, as well as allowing fans to identify their favourite drivers across multiple seasons regardless of which team they would be racing for.
That has proven to be the case. For example, Lewis Hamilton has become synonymous with his number 44 – the number he also used in karting – while, in 2021, the seven-time world champion founded Mission 44, a charity advocating for greater representation, diversity and inclusion in motorsport.
F1 drivers are allowed to choose a number between 2 and 99, which remain theirs for the duration of their career in the sport. If they depart the sport for any reason – be it a retirement or anything else – then their numbers would be reserved for two seasons, preventing any newcomers in that period from selecting it.
The number 1 is still reserved for the reigning world champion, though drivers are not obliged to use it. As a result, current four-time champion Max Verstappen races with the number 1, but the Dutchman ran with the number 33 prior to becoming champion for the first time in 2021.The reasons behind drivers picking their numbers can be absolutely anything and everything. For example, Charles Leclerc runs with the number 16 because he originally wanted number seven or 10 but both were taken.
“I finally ended up with number 16, because one plus six equals seven and I am born the 16th of October,” the Monegasque said of his choice.
For two-time world champion and current Aston Martin racer Fernando Alonso, his number 14 holds special memories. “When I was 14 years old, the 14th of July, and with the go-kart number 14, I was world champion.
Reference By: FI15