The history and meaning of number 1 in Formula 1 Now that he has become the World Champion, will Kimi Antonelli use it?

Andrea Kimi Antonelli is the Formula One World Champion. The prestigious title has returned to an Italian driver for the first time since Alberto Ascari in 1953, following the seventy-one laps completed at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, on the outskirts of Mexico City, where the Mercedes Mercedes prodigy secured a third-place finish, enough to settle the championship mathematically. Antonelli has thus earned the privilege of lifting the FIA Formula One World Drivers' Championship Trophy as the youngest World Champion in Formula One history, at just twenty years and two months old, beating Sebastian Vettel's previous record by three years. This, however, is not the only distinction Kimi has earned.

The history and significance of the number 1

Under the current system, introduced in 2014, each driver is assigned a permanent number to keep for the remainder of their career, with the option to change it upon submitting a formal request. The exception to this rule is the number 1, reserved exclusively for the car of the previous season's World Champion, who is free to decide whether or not to use it. Antonelli will therefore have to consider whether to rebrand himself by replacing his current number, 12.

It may seem like a minor detail, but this is a deeply rooted Formula One tradition, dating back more than half a century. 1974 was in fact the first season in which the sport fully moved away from assigning race numbers on a race-by-race basis, adopting a consistent numbering system based on constructors rather than individual drivers. Number 1 was reserved for the reigning World Champion and number 2 for his team-mate, while numbers 3, 4 and onwards followed the Constructors' Championship standings. All the other numbers were then effectively tied to their respective teams, as was the case with Ferrari's iconic 27. A further change came in 1996: number 1 remained with the reigning champion and number 2 with his team-mate, but team-specific numbers were scrapped, with all the remaining numbers assigned according to the previous season's Constructors' Championship standings. Since 2014, as mentioned, the system has revolved entirely around the drivers.

Historical exceptions

Returning to the 1974 change, the use of the conditional tense was no coincidence. The very first season under the new system produced an unusual exception: 1973 World Champion Jackie Stewart had decided to retire. Number 1 was therefore handed to the Constructors' Championship-winning team, Lotus, and specifically to its leading driver Ronnie Peterson. He became the first driver to receive the number under the new system, but paradoxically also the first to do so without having actually earned the title.

The regulations' inability to assign number 1 to the reigning champion also forced Williams to find an alternative solution a few years later, with Damon Hill having to race with number 0 in both 1993 and 1994. It all started with another retirement: after winning the 1992 title, Nigel Mansell decided to move to IndyCar, meaning number 1 was left unassigned and the British team had to pair its usual number 2 with number 0. According to an anecdote, Alain Prost, the team's headline signing for 1993 and a Formula One legend fresh from winning three World Championships, refused to "be a number zero", leaving the burden to a relatively inexperienced driver such as Hill. Incredibly, Prost went on to win the title, only to retire himself, resulting in another season without number 1 and another year of Hill racing with number 0, while Williams handed number 2 to Ayrton Senna.

Kimi Antonelli and number 12

Speaking of Ayrton Senna, Antonelli chose his current number as a tribute to the Brazilian legend, who raced with number 12 first at Lotus between 1985 and 1987, and then at McLaren in 1988, the year he claimed his first World Championship. The young Italian champion told Swiss newspaper Blick that he has yet to make a final decision, but will probably keep number 12 as a way of continuing that tribute. It is certainly an admirable choice, although perhaps nothing should be taken for granted: after his first title, Senna himself decided to switch to number 1, a possibility Antonelli may also want to consider.

The difference for Antonelli lies in the many personal connections he has with number 12. The young Mercedes champion has, for instance, repeatedly explained that he also chose the number because it represents the age at which he joined the Mercedes-AMG F1 Junior Programme. More importantly, number 12 has been with him since his very first experiences in single-seater racing, when he was already competing and winning in Formula 4. It was with that number that he claimed the Italian and ADAC F4 titles, as well as the Formula Regional Middle East and European championships.

Kimi even had to compete for the number when making his way into Formula One. Under the usual progression for rookies, Mercedes should initially have assigned him number 42 or 43. The former was ruled out, while the latter was already taken, prompting the German manufacturer to submit a special request for number 12. The problem was that, during the summer of 2024, Jack Doohan had also requested the same number ahead of his debut as a full-time Formula One driver, following his signing with Alpine. According to FIA protocols, priority in such cases is always given to the driver who submitted their request first. As it happened, Antonelli and Mercedes came out on top.

Following in Lewis Hamilton's footsteps

Kimi Antonelli's decision could therefore mean missing out on a historic milestone: seeing an Italian driver race with number 1, something that has never happened since the numbering system was introduced in 1973. It would not, however, be unprecedented for a World Champion to turn it down. Lewis Hamilton, who first won the title in 2014 and 2015, before securing four consecutive championships between 2017 and 2020, always chose to keep his number 44.

As with Antonelli, the British driver's attachment to his number runs deep, with roots in his early years in motorsport. When Hamilton was eight, his father decided to buy him a second-hand go-kart after spotting an advert in the newspaper. With little experience of racing and no particular number in mind, they opted for the one displayed on their family car's registration plate: F44. This is why, when drivers were finally given the freedom to choose their own numbers, Hamilton never hesitated. Although he had previously raced with number 1, as required by the regulations following his 2008 title with McLaren, he had no intention of embracing the honour again.

Since 2014, number 1 has been used only by Sebastian Vettel, following his title win the previous season, and then by Max Verstappen between 2022 and 2025, before passing to Lando Norris in 2026. A seven-season gap followed, also taking into account the fact that number 1 remained unassigned in 2017 after reigning champion Nico Rosberg retired. Now, after four consecutive seasons with number 1 on the grid, that gap could return. It would, in many ways, be the first side effect of the Kimi Antonelli era.