F1 established that since the 2014 season the drivers had to wear a fixed number during their career, only being able to change if the title is won and it is decided to wear the #1 champion.
If a driver leaves Formula 1, they will keep their number for up to two years without anyone else being able to use it, but they will be able to choose to change if they return after those two full years out of the sport.
That is, if a pilot does not compete for a year, his number will be saved for two seasons. That is why the riders who return in 2022 without having been in 2021, Magnussen and Albon , keep their numbers, and they would have lost it in 2023 if they had not returned this course.
The bibs (numbers) of each Formula 1 driver for 2022
|
Dorsal (Number) |
Pilot |
|---|---|
| 1 |
|
| 3 |
|
| 4 |
|
| 5 |  |
| 6 |  |
| 10 |  |
| eleven |
 |
| 14 |
|
| 16 |  |
| 18 | |
| 20 |  |
| twenty two |  |
| 23 |  |
| twenty four |  |
| 31 | |
| 44 |
|
| 47 | |
| 55 |  |
| 63 |  |
| 77 |  |
Why does every F1 driver wear his number? The story behind the election
Max Verstappen will wear the number 1 in F1 in 2022 as the reigning world champion after his title in 2021. The Dutchman did choose to defend the number 1, unlike Hamilton after his world championships, and temporarily parked his classic number 33. Verstappen’s 33 was because his favorite number is 3, but Daniel Ricciardo already had it when Max came to F1. It is also a number that has accompanied him on several occasions since he competed as a child.
Daniel Ricciardo wears the number 3 in F1 because it is the number that his idol used to compete with as a child, Dale Earnhardt , multiple champion in NASCAR.
Lando Norris uses the number 4 in F1, and when asked why he explained that there isn’t, or at least it’s not very interesting. Basically he saw that the 4 was going well to replace it with the A of his name and make the L4ndo logo.
Sebastian Vettel wears the number 5 in F1, and he chose it because with that number he triumphed in karting in 2001 and with it in his Red Bull he was world champion for the first time in the 2010 season. In addition to Verstappen, Vettel is the other driver who He has used the number 1 after being champion since there is a permanent number. He did it in 2014 after his title in 2013. Then, Rosberg retired five days after being crowned and could not wear the 1 and Hamilton never wanted to change it for 44.
Nicholas Latifi wears the number 6 in F1, and the reason is because of his city, Toronto. The city is known as ‘The Six’ after rapper Drake mentioned that name and called it ‘Views from the 6’. And why six? Basically because the city of Toronto was divided into six districts and the two landline codes there started or ended with six. If in F1 Latifi chose number 6 on purpose, in three of his four years in Formula 2 he wore them by pure destiny, since they were the ones worn by his DAMS team.
Pierre Gasly wears the number 10 in F1 because with that number he was champion of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 in 20213. He admits that he would have also liked to wear the 21 with which he was crowned in Formula 1, but Esteban Gutiérrez was wearing it when the Frenchman entered in F1. The number 10 shirt, which has historically been worn by great stars in football, was also worn by Kamui Kobayashi in Formula 1. The French driver, upon his arrival at the Great Circus, stated that another reason for wearing this number is because of Zinedine Zidane , one of his great idols and Ballon d’Or in 1998.
Sergio Pérez wears the number 11 in F1, and assures that it is for a soccer idol. Pérez is a fan of Club América (a soccer team in Mexico), and Chilean striker Iván Zamorano played there in his last active years: “When Bam-Bam came to the team I really liked how he played, the goals he scored, I took a lot of love and since he wore 11 on his shirt, I chose that number to run,” Pérez said years ago.
Fernando Alonso wears the number 14 in F1 because it is a number that brings him luck and refers to a key date: on July 14, with number 14, he won the karting world championship in 1996… at the age of 14.
Charles Leclerc uses the number 16 in F1 as a reference to his birthday, as he was born on October 16. He admits that he would have liked 7 (which could not be used because it belonged to Raikkonen) or 10 (Gasly came before him to F1).
Lance Stroll wears the number 18 in F1 because he claims it’s his lucky number. With the 18 he won the Italian Formula 4 Championship. “I’m not superstitious, but I like to cling to the little things that are important to me. I don’t want to change that,” he defended. Also at the age of 18 he came to Formula 1…
Kevin Magnussen wears the number 20 in F1 because it is the number with which he was champion of Formula Renault 3.5 with the DAMS team in 2013. In 2022 he returns to Formula 1, but since two full years had not yet passed since his goodbye (he left the category at the end of 2020) he has been able to keep it.
Yuki Tsunoda wears the number 22 in F1 because it is a number that he likes since it is the one that the also Japanese Takuma Sato wore for several seasons (the 10, with which Sato fared best, was taken by Gasly). That 10 was not the only number he wanted and he could not choose: “My number in karting was 11, but Sergio Pérez chose it in F1. So I simply doubled the number to get to 22. In addition, Jenson Button wore it too, a driver I admire”.
Alexander Albon wears the number 23 in F1 and he does it for his idol Valentino Rossi . This is how he explained it: “I was always a fan of Rossi, but since I can’t replace the ‘Doctor’, I thought I’d take his half”. In karting, as a child, he did dare with 46. 23 is a mythical number in basketball after being worn by legends such as Michael Jordan or Lebron James . Like Magnussen, he has been able to keep the 23 because he was only out of F1 for a year.
Guanyu Zhou wears the number 24 in F1, in the year of his debut. Like other riders, the Chinese Zhou chose number 24 for an idol, Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers legend who wore that number in his later years.
Esteban Ocon wears the number 31 in F1 because with that number he won his first karting championships in France. It is also the one he used in his first test in F1, and the one he chose as permanent when he reached the top flight.
Lewis Hamilton wears the number 44 in F1 because that number was the one he wore on his kart in his early years as a child. “It was the registration number of my father’s car, F44, and I wanted to take it with him in F1.” With him he has become a legend, winning six of the seven titles he has (the other was in 2008, when there were no permanent numbers and he was crowned with 22 after having disqualified McLaren the previous year).
In fact, he has only used the champion number 1 during a free practice session at the 2018 Abu Dhabi GP . When asked about it at the time, he explained: “44 is my special number, and in fact the whole team told me that when they travel and see a bus with 44 or a flight or a seat number 44, they They remember me. It’s becoming a part of their lives, which is great, because that’s exactly how it is for me. On 1 I thought it would be cool to wear it once, but every year it’s a new challenge and we start over.” .
For this year, as you can see in the image that opens this article, Hamilton has modified the appearance of his number and has painted it yellow and with a serigraphy reminiscent of Valentino Rossi’s 46, in homage to the retired MotoGP multi-champion and with the one who shared a great day exchanging his car for his motorcycle at the end of 2019.
Photo by: Manuel Goria / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Mick Schumacher wears the number 47 in F1, according to himself, for “a fun mix of things”. Mick liked the number 4 because with it he won in Formula 3 and 7 for his father’s world championships. “And then there’s the fact that if you count every day our family has a birthday, it adds up to 47. That’s kind of nice to me.”
Carlos Sainz wears the number 55 in F1. He wanted the 5, but it belonged to Vettel, and he chose the double 5. With that, he was able to create the hashtag #Carlo55ainz.
George Russell wears number 63 in F1. And, as with some of his rivals, it’s because it fits well with his name, since 63 can be transformed into GR, his initials.
Valtteri Bottas wears the number 77 in F1. He does not hide that he preferred the 7 that belonged to Raikkonen, so he used the double 7 that, as in other cases, fits his ‘brand’, Bo77as.
Meet the drivers of F1 2022
photo by: alpine
Photo by: Alpine
Photo by: Aston Martin Racing
Foto de: Aston Martin Racing
Foto de: Mercedes AMG
Photo by: Mercedes AMG
Foto de: Red Bull Content Pool
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Photo by: Ferrari
Photo by: Ferrari
Photo by: McLaren
Photo by: McLaren
Photo by: AlphaTauri
Foto de: Alpha Tauri
Photo de: Haas F1 Team
Photo de: Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Alfa Romeo
Foto de: Alfa Romeo
Foto de: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
What numbers can not be used in Formula 1?
Following the death of Jules Bianchi, F1 retired the number 17 and no driver can wear it.
Beyond 17, there is a rule that allows drivers to keep their number even two years after retiring, so the ones retired in 2020 won’t be usable until 2023 and the ones retired in 2021 won’t be usable until 2024.
These are the numbers that belong to other drivers and cannot be used yet:
- Romain Grosjean’s 8 will not be usable until 2023.
- Daniil Kvyat’s 26 will not be usable until 2023.
- Nico Hulkenberg ‘s 27 cannot be used until 2023. The German replaced the two Racing Point drivers in the 2020 season due to the respective COVID-19 infections of Sergio Pérez and Lance Stroll.
- Pietro Fittipaldi ‘s 51 cannot be used until 2023 because he was the substitute for the injured Romain Grosjean in the last two races of the 2020 season.
- Jack Aitken ‘s 89 will not be usable until 2023 because he took part in the Sakhir GP replacing George Russell at Williams.
- Kimi Raikkonen’s 7 won’t be usable until 2024. Raikkonen wore that number for no special reason, because it was the one he wore at Lotus when F1 started having fixed numbers.
- Nikita Mazepin ‘s 9 won’t be usable until 2024.
- The 99 will not be able to be used until 2024. The Italian wore it because it is his favorite number. It is the highest number and was released after spending two years out of F1 its previous carrier, Adrian Sutil.
Note: we say that it cannot be used until X year, but if a driver who left F1 returns the year in which his number already expires, he will have priority to choose him ahead of a driver who debuts and also wants him.
