F1 Driver Numbers: Who Races With Which Number?

F1 driver numbers were introduced to Formula 1 at the start of the 2014 season. Which number does each driver race with? And why did they pick their number?

^{Header image: © Andrew Balfour}

Since 2014, drivers have chosen their own number for their entire F1 career upon joining the sport. Every driver will always race with the number which they have chosen, aside from the reigning World Champion who is able to choose number 1 if they so wish.

Drivers can choose any number which has not already been taken from 2-100, aside from 17, which was retired from use following the death of Jules Bianchi. If a driver leaves the sport, their number becomes available to pick by another driver two seasons after the previous owner’s final race.

Below is each driver’s number for the 2025 season, the reasons why each driver chose their number and historical facts and statistics on each car number!

F1 Driver Numbers

1 – Max Verstappen

From 2015 to 2021, the number 1 was absent from Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton opted to race with the number 44 during his years as reigning champion, while Nico Rosberg retired from the sport immediately after winning the title in 2016.

In 2022, Max Verstappen became the first driver to race in car number 1 since Sebastian Vettel in 2014. Verstappen’s win in Saudi Arabia in 2022 ended the longest win-less period for car 1 in F1 history. It is the car number which has had more wins than any other in F1 history, with 224 as of the start of 2025.

Prior to becoming World Champion, Verstappen raced in car number 33. Verstappen had wanted to pick 3 as his driver number when he joined the sport in 2015, but the number was already taken by Daniel Ricciardo. In his youth, Verstappen had an electric toy car on which the number 33 appeared.

4 – Lando Norris

Lando Norris picked number 4 as his F1 driver number when he joined the sport in 2019. He had no real previous affinity to the number, with his first choices being 11 and 31 – both numbers which were already taken.

Two reasons given by Norris for settling on number 4 is because it works well with his logo and because MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi raced with number 46. Norris, a fan of Rossi, said that he did not want to be a copycat, so picked 4 as his number.

Car number 4 has taken 41 victories in total in F1. Norris’ win at the 2024 Miami Grand Prix made him the first driver to win in car number 4 since Lewis Hamilton at the 2012 United States Grand Prix. Juan Manuel Fangio, in 1954, is the only driver to have won the title using car number 4.

5 – Gabriel Bortoleto

A number synonymous with Nigel Mansell (aka “Red 5”) and Sebastian Vettel, Gabriel Bortoleto chose number 5 to become his F1 driver number ahead of his maiden season with Sauber in 2025.

Aside from number 1, number 5 has had the most wins of any other number in F1. The number has taken 144 wins to date, the most recent of which was for Sebastian Vettel at the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix. Number 5 has been the title-winning car on five occasions. Vettel is the most recent driver to win the title in car number 5, doing so in 2010.

6 – Isack Hadjar

Isack Hadjar has chosen number six as his driver number ahead of his rookie F1 season with Racing Bulls in 2025. He is the third driver – after Nico Rosberg and Nicholas Latifi – to pick number six as his number since driver numbers were introduced in 2014.

Six titles have been won by the driver of car number 6, the most recent of which was for Nico Rosberg in 2016. 75 races have been won by the driver of car number 6 – all of the last 20 of which have been won by Rosberg.

7 – Jack Doohan

Jack Doohan raced in the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in car number __ – the reserve number for Alpine if one of their drivers is replaced mid-season. When he embarks on his first full season with the team in 2025, Doohan will race in car number 7.

Doohan said that he wanted to race using a number with which he has raced before. He also cites Kimi Raikkonen – the last driver to use the number – as an idol of his. It is fitting, then, that Doohan raced in car number 7 in the Euroformula Open series in 2019, for the Double R team – of which Raikkonen was one of the co-founders.

Car number 7 has taken 28 Grand Prix victories in F1 history. Only three of those have been this century, with Jarno Trulli winning the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix and Raikkonen being victorious in the 2013 Australian Grand Prix and the 2018 United States Grand Prix.

10 – Pierre Gasly

A fan of French footballer Zinedine Zidane – who was France’s number 10 – Pierre Gasly picked number 10 to be his driver number at the start of his career in 2017. Gasly also won the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup championship in car 10 in 2013 – another decisive factor in him choosing the number.

Gasly’s win at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix is the most recent of 16 victories for the driver of car number 10 in F1 history. Before him, Lewis Hamilton was the last driver to win using that number, doing so at the 2013 Hungarian Grand Prix.

12 – Kimi Antonelli

Having used the number 12 since his Formula 4 days, choosing number 12 was an easy task for Kimi Antonelli ahead of his 2025 F1 debut. Antonelli has won multiple titles in car number 12 – including the Italian and ADAC F4 titles in 2022, as well as the Middle East and European Formula Regional titles in 2023.

A win for Antonelli this year would be the 38^th in total for the driver of car number 12. He would be the first driver to win using that car number since Jenson Button at the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix.

14 – Fernando Alonso

14 has been a lucky number for Fernando Alonso since his karting days in 1996, when, on July 14, at the age of 14, he won the world championship in go kart number 14.

Car number 14 has taken 11 victories in F1 history, though two of those were for Bill Vukovich at the Indianapolis 500, which was not run to F1 regulations. Since 1971, Mark Webber is the only driver to have won in car number 14. He took the first two wins of his career – at the 2009 German and Brazilian Grands Prix – using car number 14.

16 – Charles Leclerc

Charles Leclerc says the story behind his driver number is “not very interesting”. 16 was actually his third choice. His first two – numbers 7 and 10 – were already taken. Having been born on October 16, Leclerc eventually decided on 16 for that reason and – he says – “ because one plus six equals seven”.

Car number 16 has recorded 19 victories to date in F1. Leclerc has taken eight wins so far in car number 16. His maiden win at the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix was the first victory for the driver of car number 16 since the 1982 Italian Grand Prix, which was won by Rene Arnoux.

18 – Lance Stroll

After winning both the Formula 4 and Formula 3 championships when racing in car number 18, it was an easy choice for Lance Stroll when he embarked on his F1 career at the start of 2017.

Nine wins have been recorded by the driver of car number 18. Pastor Maldonado’s only F1 win at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix is the only victory for car number 18 since 1971.

22 – Yuki Tsunoda

If he had been able to, Yuki Tsunoda would have taken number 11 to be his driver number. But, with 11 already taken by Sergio Perez, Tsunoda decided to double it and take 22.

Tsunoda says the fact that the number was previously used by fellow Japanese racer Takuma Sato and the fact that Jenson Button – a driver Tsunoda says he respects a lot – won the title in car 22 were further factors in his choice.

Until 2008, the driver of car number 22 had taken only three wins in F1. However, due to McLaren’s disqualification from the 2007 season and Brawn GP’s late entry to the 2009 season, Lewis Hamilton and Button won races and the title in 2008 and 2009 respectively when they raced in car number 22.

23 – Alex Albon

While Yuki Tsunoda decided to double his initial choice for his driver number, Alex Albon decided to halve his. A fan of Valentino Rossi – who competed with number 46 – opted for number 23 at the start of his career in 2019. Albon’s choice was also influenced by NBA legends LeBron James and Michael Jordan having worn the number during their careers.

Jim Clark, at the 1964 Belgian Grand Prix, was the only driver to win in car number 23 until 2008 when Heikki Kovalainen scored the only victory of his career at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Rubens Barrichello won two races in car number 23 with Brawn GP in 2009.

27 – Nico Hulkenberg

Car number 27 is famously assosciated with Gilles Villeneuve, the Ferrari driver who raced with the number in the 1981 and 1982 seasons. However, Hulkenberg’s reason for picking the number is not Villeneuve-related and is instead, apparently, because the numbers from his birth date – August 19 (8/19) – added together equal 27.

25 victories have been recorded by the driver of car number 27 in total, the most recent of which was for Jean Alesi at the 1995 Canadian Grand Prix.

30 – Liam Lawson

Liam Lawson opted for car number 30 when he returned to F1 to replace Daniel Ricciardo at the 2024 United States Grand Prix. Lawson had raced in pre-assigned car number 40 during his five appearances with AlphaTauri in 2023. Lawson chose number 30 as he had raced with it in other series, including Formula First and DTM.

Car number 30 has recorded two wins in F1 history: Piero Taruffi won the 1952 Swiss Grand Prix, while Dan Gurney was victorious in the 1962 French Grand Prix.

31 – Esteban Ocon

Esteban Ocon won his first karting title in kart number 31 back in 2007. His fond memories associated with the number led to him using the 31 in his debut F1 test with Lotus back in 2014. He then opted to use it as his permanent number when he joined the sport with Manor back in 2016.

Ocon’s maiden victory at the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix was the second in total for car number 31 and the first since Emerson Fittipaldi’s victory with Lotus at the 1972 Austrian Grand Prix.

44 – Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton races in car number 44. Hamilton drove his first kart race in kart number 44 – a decision which, at the time, was influenced by the number plate of his father’s car, which featured “F44”. Such is Hamilton’s affinity with the number, on the occasions that he won the title from 2014 onwards, he opted to stick with 44 instead of changing to number 1.

Hamilton has recorded 83 of car number 44’s 84 victories in Formula 1. Maurice Trintignant is the only other driver to win in car 44, having done so at the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix.

55 – Carlos Sainz

If he had been able to, Carlos Sainz would have chosen number 5 to be his driver number at the start of his F1 career in 2015. However, it was taken by Sebastian Vettel. Sainz went with two fives instead, noting that 5s appear similar to the Ss which appear at the end of his first name and the start of his surname.

Indianapolis 500 appearances aside, Mario Andretti (in 1974) and Jean-Pierre Jarier (in 1978) are the only other drivers to use car number 55 in F1. The car number had never scored a point prior to Sainz’s debut but had started from pole position thanks to Jarier at the 1978 Canadian Grand Prix.

63 – George Russell

George Russell races with number 63 as he refers to it as “the family number”. It’s the number which his brother used when he began karting at an indoor kart centre. Russell is the only driver to race in a Grand Prix in car number 63, though it had made a handful of World Championship appearances prior to 2019, all of which were at the Indianapolis 500.

81 – Oscar Piastri

Oscar Piastri picked number 81 to be his driver number as a result of him having used it in various categories in his homeland Australia and in his European junior series days. Prior to F1, Piastri had raced in both British F4 and the Formula Renault Northern European Cup in car number 81.

Before Piastri raced in F1, number 81 had been used only eight times previously. Seven of those occasions were at the Indianapolis 500, while the only Grand Prix that the number had been used in was the 1951 German Grand Prix, in which Maurice Trintignant drover car 81.

87 – Ollie Bearman

Ollie Bearman will race with number 87 when he steps up to F1 full-time in 2025. It’s the number with which his father raced and is made up of his birthday (May 8) and his brother’s birthday (August 7).

87 will be Bearman’s third car number in four appearances when he takes it on at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. Bearman used 38 on his Ferrari debut at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, before using number 50 in his two appearances with Haas in the latter part of the 2024 season. As he was not a full-time driver, Bearman used the teams’ reserve numbers for his sporadic appearances.

Prior to the 2025 Australian Grand Prix – and excluding the Indianapolis 500 – the only other time that car 87 has appeared in a World Championship event was at the 1951 German Grand Prix, when Yves Giraud-Cabantous’ Talbot was emblazoned with the number.