What do the F1 2025 driver numbers mean?

#4: Lando Norris

It is well known that the idol of Lando Norris is Valentino Rossi ! The legend of MotoGP is inseparable from the number 46 with which he spent his entire career in the discipline. If he wanted to choose the same number at the beginning of his career in F1, Lando Norris finally decided to change his mind and use only part of this number, namely #4, in order to stand out from his idol. And as Carlos Sainz, this number 4 is very useful for marketing purposes, particularly for its logo.

© Antonin Vincent / DPPI

#81: Oscar Piastri

Like many other drivers, it is in his years karting thatOscar piastri became fond of No. 81. A number chosen at random, he explains. “When I did my first race I had to choose a number and the kart shop I went to only had number 1s in stock. It had to be a one or two digit number. I obviously couldn't be number one, for obvious reasons, so I was number 11 for my first two races. But subsequently, for the Victorian state titles, someone had already signed up as number 11. I don't know what made me choose 81, but I changed the first one for a number eight, and it has remained ever since! »

#44: Lewis Hamilton

We have to go back to the karting years to find the origin of the famous number 44 of Lewis Hamilton. Not knowing what number to use for his kart, the young Briton, then aged 8, decided to use the same number that was written on the registration plate of his father's car, which began with "F44". The rest is history, but Lewis Hamilton had fun giving other meanings to his lucky number. For example, +44 is the telephone code for the United Kingdom or even, Barack Obama, the first black President across the Atlantic, was also the 44th President of the United States of America... and since Lewis Hamilton became the first black F1 world champion, it made sense!

#16: Charles Leclerc

Like Max Verstappen, No. 16 was not really the first choice of Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque, who made his debut in F1 in 2018, would have preferred to wear number 7, his favorite number, but it was already used by Kimi Räikkönen... whom he will replace at Ferrari in 2019. No problem, he would then choose number 10… but Pierre Gasly, who had competed in his first Grand Prix a few weeks earlier, had already chosen it too! Charles Leclerc had to fall back on his third choice, namely No. 16 in reference to his birthday, October 16... and because the sum of the two numbers is also equal to 7. Clever.

© Xavi Bonilla / DPPI

#1 (or #33): Max Verstappen

If, since the 2022 season (and this will still be the case in 2025), Max Verstappen has chosen to use the number 1 reserved for the world champion, the Dutchman previously used number 33. However, this was not his first choice: when he arrived in F1, in 2015, the young 17-year-old Dutchman would have liked to take his lucky number, namely number 3... but it was already taken by Daniel Ricciardo ! “Actually, my favorite number is 3, but it was already taken by Daniel Ricciardo, so I couldn't. So I added another 3 behind, that makes me twice as lucky! » he confided at the time.

#30: Liam Lawson

Liam Lawson may be a big fan of the movie Cars, but he doesn't wear the number 95 of his idol Flash McQueen. No, the New Zealander preferred to choose the number 30 in Formula 1. A number that has been dear to him since karting and that he borrowed from one of his mentors when he was young. “[No. 30] is the number I have been racing with since I was eight years old, he explained last October after replacing Daniel Ricciardo at Racing Bulls. In my first year of go-kart racing, I joined a team and there was a guy who looked after me. He was my idol at the time and he was racing with the number 30, so I chose that number because of him. He taught me everything about karting racing when I was younger, and I kept that number to this day. I also told him that I would introduce our number to Formula 1 and he was delighted!”

#63: George Russell

George Russell's No. 63 is a family affair. In fact, the Briton chose this number thanks to his brother, who himself did karting in his younger years. “I have an older brother who used to go karting. He started with indoor rental karting and started to enjoy it. He kept going to this place and for some reason – I don't know the whole story behind it – he had No. 63. He was the fastest in this indoor karting center and he kept that number in his karting career and then I took over. »

#12: Andrea Kimi Antonelli

Unsurprisingly, Andrea Kimi Antonelli will wear the number 12 on the Formula 1 grid from the 2025 season. “There are a lot of numbers I like, but 12 is really special to me, the Italian had declared in Monza on the sidelines of the Italian Grand Prix where he had been confirmed in his future role by Mercedes. I've been using it since F4 [and] it's always worked well with the 12, so there's no reason to change it for next year." He also wore this number during Free Practice 1 at Monza where he sat behind the wheel of the W15 of the brand with the star. Before him, the number 12 was only used by one driver in Formula 1: Felipe Nasr in 2015 and 2016.

#14: Fernando Alonso

To Fernando Alonso, it was fate that pushed him to choose number 14. This has been my lucky number since 1996: when I was 14, on July 14 with kart number 14, I became World Champion for the first time. Since then I have always used the 14.” Since then, it has been impossible to dissociate this number from the Asturian Bull!

© Antonin Vincent / DPPI

#18: Lance Stroll

Number 18 of Lance stroll did not win in karting, but a little later. At the start of his career in car, the Canadian won the Italian Formula 4 championship with this number. Additionally, shortly after his 18th birthday, he made his Formula 1 debut with Williams. “I’m a bit superstitious and I like to hold on to the little things that are important to me. I don't want to change them.", explains the pilot Aston Martin.

#10: Pierre Gasly

“Only number 10s in my team! » If we had to use Booba for Pierre Gasly, it would be to explain the choice of his number, because the Norman is also a big football fan. And what else than the legendary number of Zinédine Zidane in the French team to best represent the colors of the tricolor flag in F1! Chance does things well: today, Pierre Gasly is riding at Alpine, a brand whose ambassador is none other than “ZZ”. The number 10 is also explained by the fact that the Frenchman won the 2013 edition of the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup with this number.

#7: Jack Doohan

The number 7 was not Jack Doohan's first choice. Originally, the Australian would have liked to get the number 12... alas, Andrea Kimi Antonelli - who will also make his Formula 1 debut in 2025 - was quicker to submit his request to the FIA. The son of motorcycling champion Mick Doohan will therefore have to settle for the number 7, a number much appreciated in Formula 1... and which for a long time belonged to Kimi Räikkönen. “I really wanted to choose a number that I had already raced with, something that had meaning to me, said Jack Doohan when revealing his racing number. I raced with the number 7 in 2019. And one of my idols, a super special person and driver, Kimi Raikkonen, also raced with that number. I’m really looking forward to continuing to wear it and make it my own, and hopefully get lucky with it.”

#31: Esteban Ocon

A karting story, also, for Esteban Ocon. The Norman wore number 31 when he won the French karting championship in the Minimes category in 2007. Since then, this number has never left him, notably when he carried out his first F1 test with Lotus, in 2014. “This is still my most successful year yet. This is why I will use 31 for the rest of my career. »

© Xavi Bonilla / DPPI

#87: Oliver Bearman

If Oliver Bearman competed in his first Grands Prix with the n°37 in Saudi Arabia with Ferrari, then with the n°50 in Azerbaijan then in Brazil with Haas, it will be with the number 87 that he will compete in his first full season with the British team. A number that is dear to him and that he inherited from his father, himself a racing driver, in reference to the birthdays of the Bearman sons. “I couldn’t choose my number in Jeddah. And first of all, even if I could, it was the least of my worries! [87] is the number I’ve been running with since the beginning and it’s the number my father ran with because I was born on May 8 and my brother on August 7. So 87 is my number of choice, and it will continue to be that way.”

#22: Yuki Tsunoda

Another story of a number already taken for Yuki tsunoda. Originally, the Japanese wanted to use the No. 11, which he had used since his beginnings in karting. However, this having already been taken by Sergio Pérez, the Sagamihara driver therefore decided to double this number, and use the number 22 in Formula 1. “It's a number I also like because it's the number of Jenson Button, a driver I respect a lot, who won the Formula 1 world championship in 2009. It was also used by the Japanese driver Takuma Sato. »

#6: Isack Hadjar

For his first year in F1, Isack Hadjar will wear the number 6. A choice revealed in an Instagram post by the French driver, who published a photo of himself as a child aboard a kart bearing the number 6, with the description: “Road to F1: Completed! Chapter 2 begins now! #6”. In our columns, Isack Hadjar explained the reason for this particular number: "The first kart I was bought had the number 6 on it. I didn't touch it. When I could choose my number, I took that one, including in single-seaters, during my years in F4 France or FRECA." The number 6 has a special place in Formula 1: after the number 1 and the number 5, it is the number that has seen the most drivers become world champions. Since the introduction of permanent numbers in 2014, two drivers have already chosen the number 6: Nico Rosberg (2014-2016) and Nicholas latifi (2020-2022).

#55: Carlos Sainz

Carlos Sainz's number 55 is a combination of two ideas, personal and... marketing. The Spaniard initially wanted to choose number 19, but the latter was already taken by Felipe Massa at the time. A big fan of Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid and Fernando Alonso, the son of the double world champion WRC then wanted to fall back on the No. 5 with which his compatriot had won the title in 2005... but he himself was also taken by Sebastian Vettel. Carlos Sainz therefore decided to double the number 5 to use the number 55... which is also very practical for communicating with a graphic leet speak “Carlo55ainz”!

#23: Alexander Albon

Did you know ? The numbers ofAlexander albon and Lando Norris are closely linked. As we said above, Norris's No. 4 refers to Valentino Rossi's No. 46... and indeed Alexander Albon's No. 23 too! Like his comrade, the Thai decided not to use his idol's number and decided to use No. 23, half of No. 46. The number 23 also has a lot of importance in the world of sport, particularly in basketball since it is the historic number worn by Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Just that !

I've always been a Rossi fan but since I can't replace the doctor himself, I thought I'd have half of it 😂😂 #quickmaths #AA23 pic.twitter.com/WaKGjYL5uE

- Alex Albon (@alex_albon) December 18, 2018

#5: Gabriel Bortoleto

He is – at the moment – ​​the only driver for whom we do not yet have the precise reason for the choice of his number. But Gabriel Bortoleto is a man of taste: the Brazilian will make his debut in Formula 1 with the number 5, a fairly symbolic number in Formula 1. Indeed, apart from the number 1, it is with the number 5 that there have been the most world champions in the discipline (10 champions with the number 5). The number 5 was notably worn by Nelson Piquet in 1981 and 1983, by Nigel Mansell in 1992, by Michael Schumacher in 1994 or by Fernando Alonso in 2005, the year of his first title. Incidentally, let's remember that Gabriel Bortoleto is part of the A14 Management agency founded by... Fernando Alonso. Oh well! Since the introduction of permanent numbers, Sebastian Vettel has been the only one to use number 5, a number he also wore in 2010 during the season of his first title.

#27: Nico Hulkenberg

We end this list of numbers with that of Nico Hulkenberg, who decided, in 2014, to play the mathematician when choosing his permanent number. Born on August 19, 1987, i.e. 19/08, the German simply decided to add 19 and 8 to obtain number 27. Why make it complicated when it can be simple ?

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