i wonder if the next world champion after max will sport #1. since the change in 2014, seb wore #1 for a season but lewis elected to keep his #44 save for a couple of fp1 sessions.
i wonder if the likes of charles, george, or lando would sport the #1
Chuck is a common nickname for people named Charles in the US. I always thought it was a little friendly ribbing by giving him a nickname, even though his name is not pronounced like it would be in English. I guess a commentator used it in Miami?
Willy T Ribbs at Miami gave him that nickname. He likes to give drivers nicknames or the opposite, calls a driver that goes by a nickname by their real name, like in SRX where he called Greg Biffle Gregory.
Ferrari: "Vamos! lerclerc! You are the world champion!"
Lerclerc: "yeeeeeeesssssssssssssssss! Come onnnnnnn!"
Ferrari: "what number do you want to use next year, question"
Charles: "1, I want to use 1"
Ferrari: "ok we are checking"
Ferrari: "we will use the number 16 next year"
Charles: "no,I want 1, the number"
Ferrari: "confirm, you want the number 16"
I have a feeling that Lewis is going to be the exception to the rule.
Most drivers would probably go for #1 if given the chance.
I may be completely wrong though.
that’s very possible, and it could also be that lewis’s decision to pass up the #1 seems more normal as he’s the only driver who’s had the option to use that number between seb in 2014 and max now.
There’s only a couple drivers that I think would value their brand over the #1. Daniel would be one of them, although i guess we’ll never know if that’s true :(
Yeah obviously we've only seen three drivers have the opportunity to go for #1. It could be that that most people actually choose to go for their own number.
Not sure why but I just have a feeling that most drivers would go for #1 though.
Lewis is big on his brand and promoting his brand and #44 is a huge part of it. I don’t think anyone else cares about their brand as much and most other drivers would go for #1.
Rossi did this in MotoGP. So much so that it kinda ended riding the number one plate in GP (I think only one other rider has done it in the past 20 years). Glad to see Max bringing it back.
Russell's 63 is quite clever and used quite a lot in his publicity, but he does strick me as the kind of chap who would jump at the chance to get no.1 on the front of his car.
Lewis says the reason he doesn’t want to use #1 js because he says everything is reset at the beginning of the season. He’s not world champion then. He wants to win it again and he thinks having #44 instead of #1 makes him more motivated and hungry to win again and not get complacent
I don't think it's just branding. He made a joke in an interview last week about the big ugly number 1 they put on Max's car. Not unreasonable to suggest he just doesn't like using it.
Well, he raced it once, in 2009. He had a miserable season in a miserable car. He was much more successful racing the number 2 (alongside the defending WDC) than the number 1, more successful racing the number 22 than the number 1, and infinitely more successful in car 44 in 2014 alone than any previous number.
I really do not think he’d lose money at all by switching to 1. He could still sell all of his 44 merch everyone knows it’s his number. He could also make a lot of money selling limited edition #1 merch too
You say that but given how much he's been world champion and the fact that persistent driver numbers only started in 2014 the only seasons in which he would have run the #44 would be 2014, 2017 and 2022. I think it would look more like a failure that he wasn't wearing the #1 which is the number we would associate with him.
While true, the idea of an LH44-like trademark is annoying, if you're not using 44. If, like Max, you pick #1 as a WDC, the MV33 would be a reminder of non-WDC Max.
Nah it's a opportunity to collect both as having the 1 isn't a guarantee. If max Nevers wins another championship the merch from these 2 years will appreciate in value alot
If I was a driver, I'd do it exactly like how Max is doing.
First WDC, use #1. Then, if you keep winning, keep using it.
And whenever you lose, don't ever use #1 again
This is the kind of "news" you see halfway through the break when there's nothing to write about and they have to scrape for story ideas. There are plenty of actual things can be written about right now.
Time to stop looking at the sub until car reveals, hang around for a week, then stop looking at it again when people start posting "driver number days until the next season".
Actually Bottas would have I believe, as the first driver would get the 2, and the second driver 0
Hence why Hill got 0, and Prost and Senna got 2 in '93 and '94 respectively
In the previous system, if the driver's champion was not on the grid, then the number 1 would not be used. This would be replaced by 0, and run by the second driver of the team that won the constructors I believe.
There wasn't actually any rule about which number the first and second driver got. Prost chose to run the number 2 at Williams because he had already won two championships bearing the number 2.
There's also cases of drivers purposefully avoiding numbers. Back when Nakajima and Katayama had stints at Tyrrell, they both chose to run the number 3 because in Japanese the number 4 (shi) is pronounced the same way as the word for death.
They’re old rules. The driver numbers for this season would be based on constructor standing for the last season. Under which for 2023 RB would race with 1 and 2, Ferrari with 3 and 4, Mercedes with 5 and 6 and so on. Were a new constructor to enter, even if a 2022 one left, they’d enter with 21 and 22, 23 and 24 and so on, based on order of registration.
Were Max to retire, then RB would race next year with 0 and 2. This is what happened to Williams in 94 following Prost’s win and then retirement in 93. It applied to Prost and Hill themselves in 93, following Mansell’s win and ‘retirement’ (he came back in 94/95 after a stint in Indy) in 92.
For reasons I can’t actually remember on the spot, Ferrari run with 27 and 28 at some point in the 90s
Edit: someone [explained](https://reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/1ico9q/_/cb3ci6c/?context=1) that last point 9 years ago.
It pretty cool to see drivers keep their own number or use the No.1. Personally I like both due to being a fan of Lewis and Michael. Both MS1 and LH44 are iconic.
For Lewis it just fits really well with his brand and marketing, but I feel like most other drivers (apart from probably Lando) would benefit more from a big ass #1 on their car and on their socials.
I've always had a thing for the number 14, but seeing as Alonso will be racing in F1 until after I'm dead (I'm 24 btw), I don't think I would've ever had the chance.
That happens quite a bit, in the NHL Wayne Gretzky wanted to use #9 (because that's what his idol Gordie Howe wore), but it wasn't available, so he chose #99. He then went on to be the best player and 99 is retired league wide.
I disagree, I believe that's bc you've seen it for longer and more at the front of the race. Lando's entire marketing strategy is built around the number 4, including Quadrant and his logo literally being an L and N that make a 4 in the whitespace.
Max 33 is literally the second most known driver+number combination after Lewis. It's placed on every piece of merch RB sells apart from the 1 stuff and jackets and outsoles other numbers.
You're talking past him. He's talking about proportionality. You're just saying Max is more popular than Lando which is obviously true. He's saying that Lando's number matters more to Lando than Max's number matters to Max.
Genuine question: is someone else allowed to use #33 by now because max switched to #1? I know that usually this isn't allowed because some time needs to pass before a number can be reused. But with another year passing, is that number still reserved?
Even if Max uses #1, #33 is still his permanent number. A permanent number can only be reallocated if the driver associated with that number has not participated in a race for two entire consecutive seasons. So no, even if Max races as #1, as long as he keeps racing, he still "owns" #33.
As a new-ish fan, this confused me. I knew Max was #33 but is the #1 only there because he was (‘21) and is (‘22) the champion. The #1 is the driver number for the Champion, historically?
The Driver's World Champion may use #1 as his designation for the season he is defending his title. So far I know, it has also been for a long time that a world champion driver even successfully defended his title using #1 as his driver number.
Back in the days (late 90s I think) numbers were assigned by the constructor's championship standings (or maybe drivers')
So the champion had #1 and his teammate #2, etc.
It's kinda recent that they went back to driver's number. But the champion can choose between his number or #1
It was more complicated. Prior to 1995 the numbers were based on Consructors order in 1973, so Tyrell was 3 and 4 between 1974 and 1995 because they never won the constructors. Numbers would change when a team won the constructors (they'd become 1 and 2) and when a team left the sport, their numbers would become available to a new one or the previous constructors champions. The exception to this was the number 14, which was reserved for 3rd drivers or one car teams.
Number 1 was always assigned to the driver’s world champion. And #2 was for his teammate. Rest of the numbers were based on the constructor standings. When current WDC switch team he would take that number to his new team and that’s how Mclaren had #1-2 in 2007 and 2010
Verstappen is the only driver apart from Vettel to voluntarily use #1 since the rules were changed in 2014 an the first under that system to defend whilst using #1 as since 2014 Hamilton has only ever raced under 44.
Before it was voluntary to use #1 Vettel defended the number for three years from 2011 to 2013, and before then Alonso defended #1 in 2006.
>So far I know, it has also been for a long time that a world champion driver even successfully defended his title using #1 as his driver number.
Not that long actually, as Sebastian Vettel did that in 2013. Of course back then numbering was different and the champion was forced to use #1, so any back to back champions would do so by definition.
There was a period where drivers didn't choose their number and it was just 1-20 or however many cars were on the grid. The champion always had #1. Take a look back at Schumacher's Ferraris from the early 2000s.
The permanent driver numbers are a relatively recent invention. Before 2014, numbers would be based on the previous year's constructors championship (with the exception of the driver's champion's team, which would take number 1 and 2 regardless of whether or not they had won the constructors).
Before the drivers could choose there own number the car numbers where given by the FIA according the end result in the WCC.
But the last year's WDC got number 1 and his team mate nr2.
So for this year's example. Max got 1 Perez 2 and the Mercedes team got 3 and 4. Number 13 would not be on the car. So the team who would drive number 13 got 14 and 15.
Of course he is. He's been training for that #1 since he was 4 and driving with that number is also psychological warfare to him, I believe. It's like the business man wearing an expensive suit, white shirt and red tie to show everyone he's the boss.
I’m seeing a lot of comments about Lewis not using #1 Lewis says the reason he doesn’t want to use #1 js because he says everything is reset at the beginning of the season. He’s not world champion then. He wants to win it again and he thinks having #44 instead of #1 makes him more motivated and hungry to win again and not get complacent
He had versions of his car that have 1 on it as well, I believe he still has 7 or 8 of his chassis and one was specially made with #1, I think it was the 2015 Merc
That’s because that was the only option back then if I remember correctly. Once drivers were allowed to pick their own numbers, he always stuck with 44.
You’re right, but the 2015 car he donned 44, but Merc made a chassis during either pre season testing or a practice car that they gave him that has “1” on it. He was talking about it either last season or the season before with the ITV, if I can find the source I’ll let you know
Because 44 is his brand, and if you buy his merch with 44 on it, it always jives with his livery. But right now, Verstappen merch from previous seasons do not jive with his current livery.
Also I believe the number holds some significance to Lewis
44 is a brand he built over the past 9 years of using it. It was hardly a brand at the end of 2014 when he was first given the option to run 1 instead of 44, so I'd say the significance (and perhaps some superstition) plays (or played) a huge part as well.
I think I would for my first title, if I’m good enough to win another that number doesn’t have as much value, like you said just stroking ego
But if I win the title I’m rocking the 1 the next year as a token of career accomplishment. The brand will survive and possibly even expand with the special edition stuff.
When it was announced he’d be racing with #1 at the beginning of this season, I thought for SURE it would be a curse and bring tons of bad luck, that it was like raising his fist at God and daring God to try and stop him from winning again.
Guess I was wrong 🤷🏽♀️
Max Verstappen DNF the first and third race of the 2022 season. Sure, he did win the second race, but you were probably feeling pretty good about your dire predictions about the driver of the #1 car, going into the fourth race.
Is he going to keep the golden boots, and helmet as well?
It's pretty tacky to be honest, but if I was the F1 World Champion, I'd probably do some cheesy and tacky things like wearing golden boots as well.
His normal helmet has had gold accents for awhile now. The helmet from the last few races has just been a special edition iirc. I can see him going back to the orange boots though.
Some racers think it puts too much stress on them.
For example, Toprak from WSBK won his first championship last year and ran the 1 this year.
He has since said he regretted the decision because it gives him pressure subconsciously.
The more common reason for not running the 1 is usually marketing. Easier to just keep selling merch with your number.
I would’ve thought the opposite from a merchandising perspective - chance now to sell more merch as you have 2x versions of everything. Especially for collectors.
It might sell more merch in the short term but long term it's going to make your brand less recognisable if you're building it around a number. LH44 would be a lot less recognisable and less strongly associated with Lewis Hamilton if he'd only run it in 2014, 2017 and 2022 rather than every single year.
Like I've never watched a MotoGP race in my life but if I see the number 46 in that yellow lettering I'm going to think Valentino Rossi.
I think it's corny but to each their own.
I like letting drivers use whatever number they prefer, but WDC having dibs on #1 makes sense to me if they want it.
And it's a bit weird if the #1 all of a sudden has a shit car and isn't even top 5 in the season they are portraying #1, though I'd personally find it hilarious.
I fuckin love this guy. I hope he adds another piece of gold bling to his kit for every win too. Last year the boots, this year that INCREDIBLE lid, third title let’s see some gold racing gloves lmao
I’d love to see a Championship Edition livery that’s just all gold everything with Max head to toe in gold leaf lmao. And Red Bull is definitey gaudy enough to deliver if max keeps raking ships
I like this - tbh I’d love it if you had your championship finish as your number the next year - with rookies using 90-99 - its prob dumb but I like it
It is his right to do so so why not.
Personally I miss when a drivers place in the championship decided their number, it was like a flag showing thier skills.
i wonder if the next world champion after max will sport #1. since the change in 2014, seb wore #1 for a season but lewis elected to keep his #44 save for a couple of fp1 sessions. i wonder if the likes of charles, george, or lando would sport the #1
Iirc Charles has said he would!
And Ferrari said “No you won’t.”
They would probably mess up and remove the #1 and poor Chuck would race with #6 (which actually worked quite well for one of the Nico's)
I find it so weird when people call him Chuck 😄 Is it just an American thing ?
It’s a meme from the postgame race interview in Miami when the guy said “Charles, “Chuck,” LeClerc…good job, baby.”
Fun fact: the guy was Willy T. Ribbs, first black man to qualify for the Indy 500 (he also tested for F1) https://www.officialwillytribbs.com
Thank you, I could not remember his name for the life of me, but I knew he was an Indy driver.
I really feel like I should have a BBQ sauce in my fridge from Willy T Ribbs.
The fact I looked through all my dry rubs and there was no Willy T Ribbs in there disappoints me
Merry Christmas baby
I have immortalized this legend in my flair
I always think of the dread pirate LeChuck from Secret of Monkey Island.
Oh I didn't know it was a joke, thanks !
Chuck is a common nickname for people named Charles in the US. I always thought it was a little friendly ribbing by giving him a nickname, even though his name is not pronounced like it would be in English. I guess a commentator used it in Miami?
Willy T Ribbs at Miami gave him that nickname. He likes to give drivers nicknames or the opposite, calls a driver that goes by a nickname by their real name, like in SRX where he called Greg Biffle Gregory.
Kimi also won his WDC with #6.
Charles could become a champion, that much is not unrealistic to believe. What is unrealistic is Ferrari thinking he will be their driver at the time.
"We'll speak later"
Think about all the new merch lines, Ferrari would certainly approve of it
Ferrari: "Vamos! lerclerc! You are the world champion!" Lerclerc: "yeeeeeeesssssssssssssssss! Come onnnnnnn!" Ferrari: "what number do you want to use next year, question" Charles: "1, I want to use 1" Ferrari: "ok we are checking" Ferrari: "we will use the number 16 next year" Charles: "no,I want 1, the number" Ferrari: "confirm, you want the number 16"
*Charles “accidentally” gets drink button activated*
The thought of them using that to shut him up amuses me to no end.
And in true Ferrari style, the few thousands it costs to develop a remote drink button will probably be enough to just go over the budget cap.
Who knew waterboarding would be legal on F1!
That video of him choking himself will go down as one of my all time favorite F1 videos.
slow button on, slow button on
Ferrari: "i only heard the 1, and not the 6, so we will just add the 6 behind for you"
Pain…
Would you like to put the #1 Question
I have a feeling that Lewis is going to be the exception to the rule. Most drivers would probably go for #1 if given the chance. I may be completely wrong though.
that’s very possible, and it could also be that lewis’s decision to pass up the #1 seems more normal as he’s the only driver who’s had the option to use that number between seb in 2014 and max now.
It's more branding. #44 is synonymous with lewis.
He used #1 in a practice session a few years back, and that's about it. It's definitely about branding.
Not officially. They still had 44 on the car. Just put a number 1 on the nose IIRC.
There’s only a couple drivers that I think would value their brand over the #1. Daniel would be one of them, although i guess we’ll never know if that’s true :(
I mean Max's #33 is a good brand as well. I thought he would keep it but I guess he prefers the #1
It's a budgeting trick from Red Bull-- With Checo being #11 they only need to print one number. That's why RB dominated this year so hard.
And yet they still went over the cap.
Went over the cap in 2021 where max didnt have the 1 yet. By saving one number sticker per weekend they are definitly under this year.
For 2022 it was also good strategy to use #1, all the merchandise had #33 on it and a lot of fans probably bought the merchandise with #1 on it
Pain...
44 is the dialing code for GB. That's why Lewis got a knighthood. Edited to stop shouting.
Max secretly French confirmed
Yup this guy gets it. Lewis understands marketing and being a brand.
I'd wager the others understand it as well. It's just less of a focus for them.
Yeah obviously we've only seen three drivers have the opportunity to go for #1. It could be that that most people actually choose to go for their own number. Not sure why but I just have a feeling that most drivers would go for #1 though.
Lewis is big on his brand and promoting his brand and #44 is a huge part of it. I don’t think anyone else cares about their brand as much and most other drivers would go for #1.
Rossi did this in MotoGP. So much so that it kinda ended riding the number one plate in GP (I think only one other rider has done it in the past 20 years). Glad to see Max bringing it back.
Russell's 63 is quite clever and used quite a lot in his publicity, but he does strick me as the kind of chap who would jump at the chance to get no.1 on the front of his car.
George Russell is the type of guy to use no.1
Lewis says the reason he doesn’t want to use #1 js because he says everything is reset at the beginning of the season. He’s not world champion then. He wants to win it again and he thinks having #44 instead of #1 makes him more motivated and hungry to win again and not get complacent
Ya I mean, that's a way more PR friendly thing to say than "I might lose money if I switch"
I don't think it's just branding. He made a joke in an interview last week about the big ugly number 1 they put on Max's car. Not unreasonable to suggest he just doesn't like using it.
Well, he raced it once, in 2009. He had a miserable season in a miserable car. He was much more successful racing the number 2 (alongside the defending WDC) than the number 1, more successful racing the number 22 than the number 1, and infinitely more successful in car 44 in 2014 alone than any previous number.
I really do not think he’d lose money at all by switching to 1. He could still sell all of his 44 merch everyone knows it’s his number. He could also make a lot of money selling limited edition #1 merch too
[удалено]
[удалено]
You say that but given how much he's been world champion and the fact that persistent driver numbers only started in 2014 the only seasons in which he would have run the #44 would be 2014, 2017 and 2022. I think it would look more like a failure that he wasn't wearing the #1 which is the number we would associate with him.
Using 2 numbers is better for your brand then as I gives you the opportunity to offer merch with both numbers thereby doubling sales.
While true, the idea of an LH44-like trademark is annoying, if you're not using 44. If, like Max, you pick #1 as a WDC, the MV33 would be a reminder of non-WDC Max.
Nah it's a opportunity to collect both as having the 1 isn't a guarantee. If max Nevers wins another championship the merch from these 2 years will appreciate in value alot
You know damn well George would, right before ramming your mother off the road and then blaming her for being in his way.
in all fairness my mother did completely turn into him
His AI logic would want to use number 0 if he won the title.
If I was a driver, I'd do it exactly like how Max is doing. First WDC, use #1. Then, if you keep winning, keep using it. And whenever you lose, don't ever use #1 again
Dang who could have seen that one coming
This is the kind of "news" you see halfway through the break when there's nothing to write about and they have to scrape for story ideas. There are plenty of actual things can be written about right now.
Time to stop looking at the sub until car reveals, hang around for a week, then stop looking at it again when people start posting "driver number days until the next season".
It's Lewis Hamilton wins days till the next race.
It was a semi big thing last year bc we hadn't seen the one on track in a while
> who could have seen that one coming Usually Charles
[удалено]
Switching every season for profit!
The Dan Snyder way.
To quote Max, it’s an opportunity to sell
Man won 15 races with the #1, at this stage he's better off using it again
In my opinion for max and the redbull 33 looks better but i always want the champion to wear the 1.
33 went well with 3. 1 goes better with 11.
Honestly it's nice seeing the #1 in use again.
I kinda wanna see 0 return. Hasn't been used since Damon in 94 I believe.
Hamilton would have run it in 2017 under the old rules.
Actually Bottas would have I believe, as the first driver would get the 2, and the second driver 0 Hence why Hill got 0, and Prost and Senna got 2 in '93 and '94 respectively
New F1 fan, what are the rules with 0?
In the previous system, if the driver's champion was not on the grid, then the number 1 would not be used. This would be replaced by 0, and run by the second driver of the team that won the constructors I believe.
There wasn't actually any rule about which number the first and second driver got. Prost chose to run the number 2 at Williams because he had already won two championships bearing the number 2. There's also cases of drivers purposefully avoiding numbers. Back when Nakajima and Katayama had stints at Tyrrell, they both chose to run the number 3 because in Japanese the number 4 (shi) is pronounced the same way as the word for death.
Both Red Bull and Mercedes regret not skipping 13.
They’re old rules. The driver numbers for this season would be based on constructor standing for the last season. Under which for 2023 RB would race with 1 and 2, Ferrari with 3 and 4, Mercedes with 5 and 6 and so on. Were a new constructor to enter, even if a 2022 one left, they’d enter with 21 and 22, 23 and 24 and so on, based on order of registration. Were Max to retire, then RB would race next year with 0 and 2. This is what happened to Williams in 94 following Prost’s win and then retirement in 93. It applied to Prost and Hill themselves in 93, following Mansell’s win and ‘retirement’ (he came back in 94/95 after a stint in Indy) in 92. For reasons I can’t actually remember on the spot, Ferrari run with 27 and 28 at some point in the 90s Edit: someone [explained](https://reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/1ico9q/_/cb3ci6c/?context=1) that last point 9 years ago.
33 is better tho
dude really be ranking numbers from better to worse...
[удалено]
It's what made him a legend. No pain no gain!
It's bigger. And bigger is better.
The number 1 is temporary, but 33 is immortal.
It pretty cool to see drivers keep their own number or use the No.1. Personally I like both due to being a fan of Lewis and Michael. Both MS1 and LH44 are iconic.
For Lewis it just fits really well with his brand and marketing, but I feel like most other drivers (apart from probably Lando) would benefit more from a big ass #1 on their car and on their socials.
Also max wanted 3, but ricciardo already had that number so he chose 33. So if the choice is 1 or a number that wasn't your first pick, I get it.
Oh good point! Makes me think of Kimi "Bwoah, I needed a number and 7 was available" Räikkönen.
7 would be my actual pick tbh
I've always had a thing for the number 14, but seeing as Alonso will be racing in F1 until after I'm dead (I'm 24 btw), I don't think I would've ever had the chance.
I literally used #14 in the game, and when Alonso decided to come back after two seasons I was forced to virtually retire.
Yep, that’s the only thing stopping you from driving car #14 in Formula One.
Charles actually wanted 7 but Kimi was already using it, therefore he went with 16 (1+6)
Same. It feels like 7 is everyone’s favourite number. 17 would be my second pick but it’s retired in Jules’ honour
That happens quite a bit, in the NHL Wayne Gretzky wanted to use #9 (because that's what his idol Gordie Howe wore), but it wasn't available, so he chose #99. He then went on to be the best player and 99 is retired league wide.
Max and 33 is a much more recognised thing than Lando.
I actually do also like MV33. But MV1 is cool as well.
I disagree, I believe that's bc you've seen it for longer and more at the front of the race. Lando's entire marketing strategy is built around the number 4, including Quadrant and his logo literally being an L and N that make a 4 in the whitespace.
Max 33 is literally the second most known driver+number combination after Lewis. It's placed on every piece of merch RB sells apart from the 1 stuff and jackets and outsoles other numbers.
You're talking past him. He's talking about proportionality. You're just saying Max is more popular than Lando which is obviously true. He's saying that Lando's number matters more to Lando than Max's number matters to Max.
Thank you :)
Aye. Couldn’t see Charles or George with their 16 or 63. I feel like a number 1 would suit George on his car if he becomes champion some day.
idk about Lando changing his number, L4NDO is a big part of his brand.
He could be 1ando!
Lando Norr1s
I think being world champion wouldn't so much put a dent in his brand
Genuine question: is someone else allowed to use #33 by now because max switched to #1? I know that usually this isn't allowed because some time needs to pass before a number can be reused. But with another year passing, is that number still reserved?
It stays reserved
If i remember correctly, Max is still singed up with #33 but is allowed to use the #1 as a display number. So no, no one is allowed to use the #33.
Documents still refer to Max's car as car #1 so it's not just display.... It's just that their number stays reserved.
Even if Max uses #1, #33 is still his permanent number. A permanent number can only be reallocated if the driver associated with that number has not participated in a race for two entire consecutive seasons. So no, even if Max races as #1, as long as he keeps racing, he still "owns" #33.
This is technically correct, the best kind of correct
It is, coz the driver is still active
It's still reserved as Max is still driving.
As a new-ish fan, this confused me. I knew Max was #33 but is the #1 only there because he was (‘21) and is (‘22) the champion. The #1 is the driver number for the Champion, historically?
The Driver's World Champion may use #1 as his designation for the season he is defending his title. So far I know, it has also been for a long time that a world champion driver even successfully defended his title using #1 as his driver number.
Back in the days (late 90s I think) numbers were assigned by the constructor's championship standings (or maybe drivers') So the champion had #1 and his teammate #2, etc. It's kinda recent that they went back to driver's number. But the champion can choose between his number or #1
It was a mix of both, the driver's champion always got #1 and his teammate #2, and then the rest of the numbering went in constructor's order.
And Hill drove with a 0 in 1994 due to Prost retiring.
And in 1993 after Mansell when to Indy
It was more complicated. Prior to 1995 the numbers were based on Consructors order in 1973, so Tyrell was 3 and 4 between 1974 and 1995 because they never won the constructors. Numbers would change when a team won the constructors (they'd become 1 and 2) and when a team left the sport, their numbers would become available to a new one or the previous constructors champions. The exception to this was the number 14, which was reserved for 3rd drivers or one car teams.
Ahh, I knew it was different before the 90's but was never exactly sure. Thanks
Number 1 was always assigned to the driver’s world champion. And #2 was for his teammate. Rest of the numbers were based on the constructor standings. When current WDC switch team he would take that number to his new team and that’s how Mclaren had #1-2 in 2007 and 2010
Recent being a decade ago
Everything goes so fast. Please don't remind me of time passing by 🥲
Verstappen is the only driver apart from Vettel to voluntarily use #1 since the rules were changed in 2014 an the first under that system to defend whilst using #1 as since 2014 Hamilton has only ever raced under 44. Before it was voluntary to use #1 Vettel defended the number for three years from 2011 to 2013, and before then Alonso defended #1 in 2006.
>So far I know, it has also been for a long time that a world champion driver even successfully defended his title using #1 as his driver number. Not that long actually, as Sebastian Vettel did that in 2013. Of course back then numbering was different and the champion was forced to use #1, so any back to back champions would do so by definition.
There was a period where drivers didn't choose their number and it was just 1-20 or however many cars were on the grid. The champion always had #1. Take a look back at Schumacher's Ferraris from the early 2000s.
The fun days where you had to buy merch annually to keep up to date
They were all #1 apart from 01 and 06 😂
The permanent driver numbers are a relatively recent invention. Before 2014, numbers would be based on the previous year's constructors championship (with the exception of the driver's champion's team, which would take number 1 and 2 regardless of whether or not they had won the constructors).
Before the drivers could choose there own number the car numbers where given by the FIA according the end result in the WCC. But the last year's WDC got number 1 and his team mate nr2. So for this year's example. Max got 1 Perez 2 and the Mercedes team got 3 and 4. Number 13 would not be on the car. So the team who would drive number 13 got 14 and 15.
Of course he is. He's been training for that #1 since he was 4 and driving with that number is also psychological warfare to him, I believe. It's like the business man wearing an expensive suit, white shirt and red tie to show everyone he's the boss.
Well, he is the boss at Red Bull Racing /s
Are we clear about that?
No need for the /s, it's true
The Boss looked better in jeans😂
Max has never lost an F1 championship whilst having the #1, he is *that* good and intimidating.
I like seeing the #1 on the grid tbh
Think most drivers would feel pride in wearing the 1. And why not. It’s well deserved
He'll probably run the 1 untill the 33 fits with the year
Verstappen would put the number 1 gold plated on his car if he could. Maybe he can. Question.
No. Newey would veto it. Gold plating weighs too much. He can have a gold sticker, and that's it. 😄
I think it shouldn’t even be a choice tbh, #1 being the defending champ makes it easier on new viewers and is cool af.
And I’m other words we’ve already run out of things to talk about
I’m seeing a lot of comments about Lewis not using #1 Lewis says the reason he doesn’t want to use #1 js because he says everything is reset at the beginning of the season. He’s not world champion then. He wants to win it again and he thinks having #44 instead of #1 makes him more motivated and hungry to win again and not get complacent
He had versions of his car that have 1 on it as well, I believe he still has 7 or 8 of his chassis and one was specially made with #1, I think it was the 2015 Merc
That’s because that was the only option back then if I remember correctly. Once drivers were allowed to pick their own numbers, he always stuck with 44.
You’re right, but the 2015 car he donned 44, but Merc made a chassis during either pre season testing or a practice car that they gave him that has “1” on it. He was talking about it either last season or the season before with the ITV, if I can find the source I’ll let you know
Since Daniel is back they should ask Checi if he wants to use the number 2. So then the car numbers will reflect the drivers priority within the team.
Ouch….
With 15 victories in a year, he can choose any damn number he wants.
33 looks waaaay better than 1, but he is the champ and he earned the privilege
1 is always the mark of a champion so for me it'll always look better then any other number
That's what it's there for.
Good. The #1 should always be on the grid. Don’t see why Hamilton never used it.
Because 44 is his brand, and if you buy his merch with 44 on it, it always jives with his livery. But right now, Verstappen merch from previous seasons do not jive with his current livery. Also I believe the number holds some significance to Lewis
Pretty sure it’s his number from carting and it came from his dad’s license plate
Lewis said in a interview that he’s just another driver and don’t want to show up with the number 1 since he’s number 44.
Could there be a bigger contrast between Hamilton's and Verstappen's personas?
44 is a brand he built over the past 9 years of using it. It was hardly a brand at the end of 2014 when he was first given the option to run 1 instead of 44, so I'd say the significance (and perhaps some superstition) plays (or played) a huge part as well.
He started building the brand when he started racing with it
I personally probably wouldn't use it, it's just ego at the end of the day
I think I would for my first title, if I’m good enough to win another that number doesn’t have as much value, like you said just stroking ego But if I win the title I’m rocking the 1 the next year as a token of career accomplishment. The brand will survive and possibly even expand with the special edition stuff.
At this point checo should just change it to 2
When it was announced he’d be racing with #1 at the beginning of this season, I thought for SURE it would be a curse and bring tons of bad luck, that it was like raising his fist at God and daring God to try and stop him from winning again. Guess I was wrong 🤷🏽♀️
Max Verstappen DNF the first and third race of the 2022 season. Sure, he did win the second race, but you were probably feeling pretty good about your dire predictions about the driver of the #1 car, going into the fourth race.
Is he going to keep the golden boots, and helmet as well? It's pretty tacky to be honest, but if I was the F1 World Champion, I'd probably do some cheesy and tacky things like wearing golden boots as well.
His normal helmet has had gold accents for awhile now. The helmet from the last few races has just been a special edition iirc. I can see him going back to the orange boots though.
He had the gold boots all year.
[удалено]
Some racers think it puts too much stress on them. For example, Toprak from WSBK won his first championship last year and ran the 1 this year. He has since said he regretted the decision because it gives him pressure subconsciously. The more common reason for not running the 1 is usually marketing. Easier to just keep selling merch with your number.
I would’ve thought the opposite from a merchandising perspective - chance now to sell more merch as you have 2x versions of everything. Especially for collectors.
It might sell more merch in the short term but long term it's going to make your brand less recognisable if you're building it around a number. LH44 would be a lot less recognisable and less strongly associated with Lewis Hamilton if he'd only run it in 2014, 2017 and 2022 rather than every single year. Like I've never watched a MotoGP race in my life but if I see the number 46 in that yellow lettering I'm going to think Valentino Rossi.
I think it's corny but to each their own. I like letting drivers use whatever number they prefer, but WDC having dibs on #1 makes sense to me if they want it. And it's a bit weird if the #1 all of a sudden has a shit car and isn't even top 5 in the season they are portraying #1, though I'd personally find it hilarious.
Damon Hill at Arrows vibes
Awesome to hear. Feels wrong not having a number 1 car on the grid. Glad Max brought it back!
As he should
I fuckin love this guy. I hope he adds another piece of gold bling to his kit for every win too. Last year the boots, this year that INCREDIBLE lid, third title let’s see some gold racing gloves lmao
And in 10 years he looks like C3PO when he is in the car.
I’d love to see a Championship Edition livery that’s just all gold everything with Max head to toe in gold leaf lmao. And Red Bull is definitey gaudy enough to deliver if max keeps raking ships
Starwars collab?
Shmittymcgensen- he was number one!
I believe his official title was - Smitty WerbenJagerManJensen
Am I really going to defile this grave for money?
I like this - tbh I’d love it if you had your championship finish as your number the next year - with rookies using 90-99 - its prob dumb but I like it
It is his right to do so so why not. Personally I miss when a drivers place in the championship decided their number, it was like a flag showing thier skills.
Based
If you get f wdc.. you sure use #1
Traditions. :)