Car number 1 has taken the most victories in Formula 1, while numbers 2, 5 and 44 also appear near the top of the list. Here are the car numbers which have won the most races in Formula 1.
Car number 1 – 215 wins
Except for rare exceptions, the number 1 has been reserved for the reigning World Champion in Formula 1. However, number 1 has been absent from F1 in recent years. Since 2014, drivers have chosen a number for their entire career with the World Champion able to choose to keep their own number or take the number 1 if they become World Champion.
While Sebastian Vettel elected to take the number 1 in 2014, Lewis Hamilton did not on the six occasions that he won the title between 2014 and 2021. The number was also absent in 2017, when reigning champion Nico Rosberg retired from Formula 1 immediately after winning the title. Max Verstappen finally brought number 1 back to the grid in 2022 – ending the number’s longest win drought in F1 history.
In another title winning season, Verstappen added 15 victories to car number 1’s tally in 2022, taking its total to 196. He then won 19 races in 2023, extending the number’s record wins to 215.
28 drivers have won in car number 1, including six who were never crowned World Champion. Those six include Johnnie Parsons, who took the first win in car number 1 at a World Championship event in the 1950 Indianapolis 500. Michael Schumacher is the driver to have taken the most wins with the number, with 52.
| Wins | Driver |
| 52 | Michael Schumacher |
| 34 | Max Verstappen |
| 29 | Sebastian Vettel |
| 16 | Ayrton Senna |
| 12 | Alain Prost |
| 11 | Fernando Alonso |
| 9 | Mika Hakkinen |
| 8 | Niki Lauda |
| 5 | Jim Clark |
| 4 | Emerson Fittipaldi |
| 3 | Juan Manuel Fangio |
| 3 | James Hunt |
| 3 | Ronnie Peterson |
| 3 | Nelson Piquet |
| Wins | Driver |
| 3 | Jackie Stewart |
| 2 | Jack Brabham |
| 2 | Jenson Button |
| 2 | Lewis Hamilton |
| 2 | Graham Hill |
| 2 | Denny Hulme |
| 2 | Alan Jones |
| 2 | Kimi Raikkonen |
| 1 | Jimmy Bryan |
| 1 | Peter Collins |
| 1 | Stirling Moss |
| 1 | Johnnie Parsons |
| 1 | Pedro Rodriguez |
| 1 | Keke Rosberg |
Car number 5 – 144 wins
144 wins have been taken in car number 5 throughout Formula 1’s history. Alberto Ascari was the first driver to win in car number 5, doing so at the 1953 British Grand Prix. Nigel Mansell is the driver most closely associated with the number, having taken famous victories in ‘Red 5’ during his most competitive seasons.
Mansell has taken more wins than anyone else in car number 5, with 27. Sebastian Vettel is also synonymous with the number, having chosen it as his permanent number when the new numbering system was introduced in 2014 – but Michael Schumacher took more wins with the car number than Vettel (Schumacher took 21, compared to Vettel’s 19). Vettel supplied car number 5 with its most recent victory at the 2019 Singapore Grand Prix.
Car number 2 – 83 wins
The very first Formula 1 victory was recorded in car number 2, by Giuseppe Farina at the 1950 British Grand Prix. Given that, especially in more recent years up to 2014, number 2 has been assigned to the team-mate of the reigning champion, it’s not a big surprise to see the number this far up the list.
83 victories have been taken by car number 2 – but the number is currently on its longest losing streak. No victories have been taken in car number 2 since the 2012 British Grand Prix, at which Mark Webber secured the final win of his career.
In 2023, Logan Sargeant becomes the first driver to race in car number 2 since Stoffel Vandoorne in the 2018 season.
Car number 44 – 82 wins
Lewis Hamilton has almost single-handedly taken car number 44’s tally of wins to 82. It’s only “almost” as the first win in car number 44 was taken by Maurice Trintignant, racing with Ferrari at the 1955 Monaco Grand Prix.
It would be almost 60 years before the number won again in F1, with Hamilton taking his first win in car number 44 at the 2014 Malaysian Grand Prix. Hamilton has taken a further 81 wins in car 44 since.
Car number 6 – 75 wins
Car number 6 will not be on the grid in 2023, with Nicholas Latifi – who raced with the number between 2020 and 2022 – dropped by Williams ahead of the 2023 season. It’s a number which has secured 75 victories throughout F1 history, with the most recent win in car number 6 taken by Nico Rosberg at the 2016 Japanese Grand Prix.
Rosberg has won more races in car number 6 than any other driver, with 19 wins in the car number between 2014 and 2016.
Car number 3 – 63 wins
It’s very rare to not have car number 3 on the grid – but that was the case in the first half of 2023, with Daniel Ricciardo stepping away from Formula 1.
63 wins have been taken by drivers in car number 3 in total, with Ricciardo giving the number its most recent win at the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.