F1 driver numbers: how they are chosen and why there is no number 17

F1 driver numbers in 2026

There are 22 drivers on the 2026 entry list, each with their own number. The lowest is 1, carried by 2025 champion Lando Norris, and the highest is Oliver Bearman’s 87. The list follows the entry list for round 15, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix (data as of 29 September 2026).

At rounds 12–14 of the season, Liam Lawson drove for Red Bull, and Yuki Tsunoda raced for Racing Bulls with his permanent number, 22. This season’s drivers and teams are on the 2026 drivers page.

How are F1 numbers assigned?

The driver chooses the number and the FIA assigns it: under the regulations, permanent numbers are given out on a first come, first served basis. A driver races with the same number all season. A newcomer who joins the championship mid-season gets a permanent number in the same way.

The FIA publishes the list of drivers and their numbers on or before 20 December of the year before the season. A driver can ask the FIA in writing to change their number, but only before that list comes out, and the new number takes effect only from the following championship.

The number must be clearly visible from the front of the car: the digits must be at least 160 mm high, with a stroke at least 25 mm thick. Drivers who only take part in practice, and reserve drivers, use numbers that the FIA issues to the team.

Number 1 is for the champion

Under the regulations, the reigning world champion may take number 1 but doesn’t have to. If they later lose the title, their previous number is kept for them for the following season.

Since 2014, champions have used this right in different ways:

So from 2015 to 2021, nobody raced with number 1. After his titles in 2014, 2015 and 2017–2020, Hamilton didn’t take number 1, and in 2026 he races with the same 44 as in 2014. How many titles each champion has is shown in the article on the most world titles.

Verstappen has had three numbers. From his debut in 2015 he raced with 33, after his 2021 title he took 1, and in 2026 he switched to 3. That was the number of Daniel Ricciardo, his Red Bull team-mate in 2016–2018. According to Formula 1, both the FIA and Ricciardo himself gave their permission.

Why is there no number 17 in F1?

The FIA retired number 17 on 20 July 2015 in memory of Jules Bianchi. He raced with it for Marussia in 2014, and in Monaco, where he finished ninth, he scored his and the team’s first points. Bianchi died in July 2015 from injuries sustained in a crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.

The FIA explained its decision this way: since drivers now choose their own numbers, retiring Bianchi’s was an appropriate gesture. The 2026 regulations say the same: numbers run from 1 to 99, with 17 the only exception. According to f1db, no one has raced with number 17 since Bianchi in 2014.

How many numbers are there in F1?

Under the 2026 regulations there are 98 numbers: 1 to 99 without 17. Number 1 is kept for the champion, so a permanent number is chosen from 97 options — 2 to 99 without 17.

A number becomes free if the driver gives it up in writing or doesn’t take part in a single event for two championships in a row. Another driver can then take it from the following season. That is how number 22 stayed with Yuki Tsunoda: he wasn’t on the 2026 entry list, but he raced in 2025, so under this rule the number wasn’t freed up. At three events in 2026, Tsunoda raced with that very number.

How numbers were given out before 2014

Before 2014, numbers weren’t assigned to drivers for their whole career. For the last 18 seasons before that, according to Formula 1, the numbers on each team’s cars were set by the Constructors’ Championship results.

In 2014 drivers were allowed for the first time to choose a number for their whole career. If several drivers wanted the same one, it went to whoever had finished higher in the 2013 Drivers’ Championship. Bianchi asked for 7, 27 or 77, but all three went to drivers who had finished 2013 ahead of him: number 7, for example, went to Kimi Räikkönen. Sebastian Vettel, as reigning champion, took 1 and chose 5 for the future — and raced with it from 2015 to 2022.