Who uses what number and why?

In Formula 1 all drivers use a fixed race number. The championship introduced this concept in 2014 to increase the recognition of the drivers on the track for the fans. In previous years, the starting numbers were handed out based on the final ranking of the constructors’ championship from the prior season.

Now only the reigning world champion can choose to change his number for the season: he may replace it with the #1. All other drivers must stick to their chosen number. 

Behind each choice is a story. It could be a driver’s ‘lucky’ number or they have special memories of the number.

Here are all the driver numbers for the 2025 F1 season and the explanations behind them.

F1 driver race numbers in 2025

Will Max Verstappen drive with race number 1 in 2025?

The reigning four-time world champion Max Verstappen will keep the #1 for the 2025 F1 season.

Following his maiden title in 2021, the Red Bull driver switched from his usual #33 to #1 for 2022 – and that has remained ever since, as he’s won the three championships since.

“How often do you get the chance to drive with starting number 1 in your Formula 1 career? You never know,” Verstappen said.

“I can always go back to number 33 if I am no longer world champion. But as long as I am world champion, I will use number 1 every single year.”

Sebastian Vettel was the last driver to use the #1 in 2014. In subsequent years, the title went to Lewis Hamilton on six occasions, who stuck with #44, or to Nico Rosberg. The German retired immediately after his world title and therefore no driver could use the #1 in 2017.

Why did Max Verstappen pick #33?

In the years before his first world title Verstappen drove in F1 with #33. The story behind this choice is quite simple: in his youth the Dutchman had the #3 as a lucky number. He wanted to use it in F1, but the number was already taken by Daniel Ricciardo, so Verstappen then chose to use #33 “for double happiness”. 

“As a kid I raced around with this number, so I thought it would be fun to use #33 in Formula 1 as well,” he explained on social media, accompanying a photo of an electric toy car he drove around the family’s garden.

At other times in his career he has also driven with a #3, while in the European Formula 3 Championship, the Dutchman raced as #30 and on his debut for Toro Rosso he used #38.

F1 drivers’ numbers for 2025 and the story behind their choice

Lando Norris races with the #4 on his McLaren, explaining: “The story is that there is no story. It fits well with the hashtag #L4ndo, but it’s not a number I’ve used in all racing classes.” Norris is a big fan of MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi and considered using his #46, but said he didn’t want to be a ‘copycat’ so opted for the #4.

Gabriel Bortoleto will contest his rookie campaign in F1 with #5 for Sauber, a number he also used during his 2023 Formula 3 championship-winning season. Fellow rookie Isack Hadjar will use #6 for Racing Bulls, a number he raced with in karts.

There are many rookies on the F1 grid this year, one of which is Jack Doohan for Alpine. The Australian will use #7, having first lodged a request to run with #12 after being told it was available, but it subsequently emerged that Mercedes rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli had taken it. 

So, Doohan opted for #7 because he “wanted to go with a number that I raced with before. Something that had meaning for me. I raced with number seven in 2019. And also one of my idols, a super special person and driver, Kimi Raikkonen, also drove with that number”.

It is the first time #7 has been available since Raikkonen left the series at the end of 2021. This is because numbers can only be reused once a driver who previously had that specific number has been out of F1 for at least two seasons. 

Antonelli’s preference for #12 meanwhile, was prompted by its link to his hero Ayrton Senna, the Brazilian who used it from 1985 through to his maiden title-winning 1988 season. 

Elsewhere, Pierre Gasly has #10. The Frenchman won the 2013 Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup with that number and also idolises footballing legend Zinedine Zidane, who wore #10 when playing for France.

Fernando Alonso uses #14. On 14 July 1999, at the age of 14, he became world champion in karting with #14. “From that moment I knew #14 was my number,” he said.

Charles Leclerc competes in F1 with the #16. The Ferrari driver was born on 16 October 1997. His preference was initially for the lucky number seven, but that was already taken by Kimi Raikkonen at the time. Next, Leclerc wanted #10 but that belong to Gasly so after some simple maths, he decided on #16 “because one plus six is seven,” he explained.

Lance Stroll has fitted his Aston Martin with #18. In the early days of his career he won the Italian Formula 4 Championship with this race number. And then shortly after his 18th birthday, he made his F1 debut with Williams. “A bit superstitious, but I like to hold on to little things that are important to me. I don’t want to change them,” he said.

Yuki Tsunoda opted for #22 in F1. The Japanese had #11 in his early karting days and wanted to use it in F1 as well, but that was already occupied by Sergio Perez, who left the series at the end of 2024. Tsunoda simply doubled the number resulting in #22.

Alex Albon has stuck with #23, which he also used in the first phase of his F1 career. Like Norris, Albon is a big Rossi fan and in his karting days the Thai-Briton raced with his #46, but decided to opt for half of that number in F1.

When Nico Hulkenberg returned to F1 full-time in 2023, he began reusing the #27 that he had in the early stages of his career. The number is already fairly famous in F1 having been used by six-time grand prix winner Gilles Villeneuve, as well as occasionally by a handful of other stars including Ayrton Senna and Jean Alesi. But, the German’s alleged reason behind picking #27 isn’t related to that at all, as it is the date and month of his birthday added together: 19 August.

For Liam Lawson’s first, full season in the series his Red Bull will be branded with #30. The New Zealander used said number for a large part of his junior career, including his time in Formula First and DTM. 

Esteban Ocon has #31, which he used when he claimed his first karting title in 2007 – a year that he still considers as one of the best in his career. In 2014, Ocon also used #31 for his F1 test debut in a Lotus.

Hamilton races with #44. The seven-time world champion drove his first kart race with #44, but didn’t know what race number to choose in 2014 so he took the number from the licence plate of his father’s car: F44. With that number he laid the foundation for his successful career and therefore wanted to use it in F1. Even in the years when he was entitled to race with #1 as world champion, the Briton stuck to his #44.

Carlos Sainz drives with #55, explaining that “the S of my first name is like a 5 and so is the S of my last name, so that makes #55”. His favourite number is actually five, but that was already taken by Vettel at the time – so with this self-invented word game he reached #55.

George Russell uses #63, saying that “my brother used to kart with the number 63, so this has become our family number ever since”.

Oscar Piastri chose #81 in F1, having used the number sporadically in his junior career. Starting with #11 while karting in Australia, Piastri switched to #81 as a rival already had his previous race number. When he started racing in Europe, he used various numbers but returned to #81 when competing in both British F4 and the Formula Renault Northern European Cup. 

Finally, new Haas driver Oliver Bearman will use the highest number on the F1 grid opting for #87. The 19-year-old said: “It is the number that I raced since the beginning and it’s the number that my dad raced with – because I’m born on the 8 May, and my brother on the 7 August.”

Which race numbers cannot be used in F1?

F1 drivers cannot pick #17. Jules Bianchi was using this number when he crashed at Suzuka during the 2014 Japanese GP and the injuries he sustained from it ultimately killed him nine months later. As a tribute, F1 decided to withdraw #17. 

How long is a driver entitled to an F1 starting number?

A driver who leaves F1 can still use his old number for up to two years in case of a possible comeback. During this period the number cannot be used by another driver. For example, Alonso chose #14 again when he returned to F1 in 2021 after leaving at the end of 2018, with Albon and Hulkenberg also choosing #23 and #27 respectively when they were given a second chance in F1.

These starting numbers cannot be used in 2024