With the 2026 season already on the horizon, the driver numbers have been confirmed for what is undoubtedly going to be another exciting campaign of F1 action as all-new technical regulations come into effect and an additional team joins the grid.
Now that the sport has crowned a new drivers’ champion for the first time since 2021 and a fresh rookie is rounding off the Racing Bulls line-up next season, there are a couple of noticeable changes to the 2026 driver numbers.
How the numbering system has evolved over the years
In the earlier decades of F1, the drivers’ race numbers were assigned based on how each team had fared in the previous year’s constructors’ championship. However, as drivers began to gain more notoriety and fandom with the advent of social media, numbers became increasingly interlinked with their identities both on and off the track.
Since 2014, F1 drivers have been permitted to choose a number that would stick with them throughout their careers. Apart from amplifying the personal branding of the drivers, this rule has also allowed fans to identify their favourite drivers across multiple seasons regardless of the team they are racing for.
Under the 2026 sporting regulations, drivers, however, are allowed to change their assigned number from the one they had first selected when coming into F1.
Drivers are able to choose from numbers 2 to 99, as long as it is not currently in use in F1. Following a driver’s departure from the sport, irrespective of the reason, the FIA freezes their number for two seasons.
The number 1 is still reserved for the reigning world champion, but drivers are not obligated to use it.
There is one number not available for drivers to use. It belonged to the late Jules Bianchi, and the FIA has permanently retired car number 17 in honour of the beloved driver.
Why F1 drivers have picked the numbers they have
As for the 2026 F1 grid, how did the drivers settle on their identifying numbers? From birth dates to favourite athletes to superstitious beliefs, the reasons are manifold.
Lando Norris
Lando Norris, who is now the 35th driver in history to lift the coveted F1 drivers’ championship trophy, has confirmed that he will use the number 1 on his car in 2026. Having previously raced with #4, he has opted to take the number that reflects his new status as a world champion.
“It’s tradition, it’s there for a reason,” Norris told Sky Sports News.
“It’s there because you can go and try grab it and you can work hard to try and get it.
“All of us as a team that gets to have a role in McLaren, or my car, will get to wear that with pride. It’s all my mechanics, my engineers, everyone that’s part of McLaren gets to have that acknowledgement too.
“So, it’s not for me, it’s for them as well. It’s their pride, knowing that they put a lot of work and effort into everything that they can also go ‘we’re number one’.
“It’s not as cool when you say ‘we are number four’ so they will be even happier than I am!”
| Number | #1 (#4 reserved as usual race number) |
| Previous owner of number | Number is reserved for the champion |
| Pole positions | 16 |
| Podiums | 44 |
| Wins | 11 |
| Career points | 1430 |
| Championships | 1 |
Oscar Piastri
McLaren’s Oscar Piastri will continue to sport #81 in the upcoming season.
Piastri was forced to select the number 11 before his first karting race, thanks to a rule that mandated the use of a two-digit number and the store he had gone to only having number ones in stock. With #11 already in use in a different series, the Australian eventually settled on the number 81 and has used it ever since.
The Melbourne native is the first driver to carry #81 in F1 since drivers were able to choose their race number in 2014.
“Eighty-one was the number I had in karting,” said Piastri on In the Fast Lane podcast.
“When I did my first race, I had to pick a number for my first race and the kart shop I went to only had number ones in stock, and it had to be a one or two digit number.
“I obviously couldn’t be number one because yeah, for obvious reasons, so I was actually number 11 for my first couple of races, and then we entered—I think it was the Victorian state titles—and somebody had already entered as number 11.
“I don’t know what inspired me to pick 81 but I changed the first one for a number eight, and it stuck ever since. So, there you go!”
| Number | #81 |
| Previous owner of number | No previous owner |
| Pole positions | 6 |
| Podiums | 26 |
| Wins | 9 |
| Career points | 799 |
| Championships | 0 |
George Russell
The number 63, belonging to George Russell, is actually a family affair. He went for this particular one because his brother, Benjy Russell, had raced with the same number in karting in the 2000s.
In an interview with YouTube channel WTF1 in 2019, the Brit explained the story behind his signature number.
“I have an older brother who used to race go-karting. He started when he was 10 years old and I was just a child so I followed him round the tracks; he started off in like an indoor rental car space just for birthday parties and he started enjoying it.
“He continued going to this place and for whatever reason—I don’t actually know the whole story behind it—but the quickest guy got the number 63 car. I don’t really know why that was.
“So he was the quickest at this indoor karting place and he took that number into his karting career and I took over.”
| Number | #63 |
| Previous owner of number | No previous owner |
| Pole positions | 7 |
| Podiums | 24 |
| Wins | 5 |
| Career points | 1033 |
| Championships | 0 |
Kimi Antonelli
Just like his Silver Arrows teammate, Kimi Antonelli won’t wear a new number in 2026 and will continue to use #12.
Antonelli chose the number 12 because of its link with Brazilian racing legend Ayrton Senna, who had raced with it from 1985 to 1988, the year he became an F1 world champion for the first time.
The Italian also used the number 12 en route to the Italian and ADAC F4 titles in 2022 and the Middle East and European Formula Regional crowns a year later. This positive association influenced the 19-year-old to keep it after stepping up to F1.
“It is because of Ayrton,” Antonelli stated in an interview on Mercedes’s official website.
“But it is also the number I first used in single seaters.
“From F4 I started to use 12 straight away and it worked pretty well with that number. Hopefully I can carry that on in F1. I was also 12 years old when I joined the Mercedes junior programme, so there is that too.”
| Number | #12 |
| Previous owner of number | Felipe Nasr |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Podiums | 3 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Career points | 150 |
| Championships | 0 |
Max Verstappen
Although Max Verstappen had flaunted the number 1 on the nose of his Red Bull cars as the defending champion over the last four seasons, Norris will take over that honour in 2026 after claiming his maiden F1 drivers’ title.
In spite of racing with #33 at Toro Rosso and Red Bull from 2015 to 2021, the Dutchman won’t embrace his characteristic number next year.
With the FIA recently amending the regulation on permanent competition numbers, Verstappen will switch his personal race number to the one his former teammate Daniel Ricciardo previously used.
Ricciardo was already on the grid and became the sole holder of #3 when the permanent driver numbers were introduced in 2014. Since his lucky number was already in use, a 17-year-old Verstappen had to settle on #33 in 2015 as he joined the Toro Rosso squad. He had run the number 3 in his competitive single-seater debut in the Florida Winter Series a year prior.
During an interview with Viaplay, Verstappen said: “It won’t be number 33. My favourite number has always been 3, apart from number 1. We can now swap, so it’ll be number 3. Number 33 was always fine, but I just like one 3 better than two. I always said it represented double luck, but I’ve already had my luck in Formula 1.”
Verstappen would’ve still had to wait another year to get his hands on his preferred number since Ricciardo had only left the F1 grid in September 2024. However, a statement on the four-time champion’s official website has revealed that the Honey Badger had approved the switch.
| Number | #3 |
| Previous owner of number | Daniel Ricciardo |
| Pole positions | 48 |
| Podiums | 127 |
| Wins | 71 |
| Career points | 3444.5 |
| Championships | 4 |
Isack Hadjar
Isack Hadjar, one of the standout rookies of 2025, will partner with Max Verstappen in the upcoming season and sport #6 on his Red Bull car.
The number 6 was used from 2014 to 2016 by Nico Rosberg and from 2020 to 2022 by Nicholas Latifi, making it the first number to ever be selected three times since 2014.
Hadjar simply chose #6 because it was the number on the very first kart that was bought for him. Later on, the French-Algerian racer always preferred to run it whenever the choice was available.
“It’s very simple. The first kart I was bought had the number 6 on it; I didn’t touch it,” Hadjar explained in issue 2494 of AUTOhebdo.
“When I could choose my number, I took this one, even in car, during my years in F4 France and FRECA.”
| Number | #6 |
| Previous owner of number | Nicholas Latifi |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Podiums | 1 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Career points | 51 |
| Championships | 0 |
Charles Leclerc
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc will compete with his usual #16 in the 2026 F1 season.
Because he was born on October 16, one might believe that’s what inspired Leclerc to pick the number 16. However, his preference was initially for the lucky number 7, which Kimi Räikkönen was already using at the time as a Ferrari driver.
#10 was the next number up for contention, but Pierre Gasly had just taken it in 2017.
As a last resort, Leclerc used some calculations and landed on the number 16 when he made his F1 debut with Sauber a year later.
“I wanted number 7; I wanted number 10, but it was taken,” the Monégasque said.
“I finally ended up with number 16, because one plus six equals seven and I am born the 16th of October. So, not a very interesting story.”
| Number | #16 |
| Previous owner of number | No previous owner |
| Pole positions | 27 |
| Podiums | 50 |
| Wins | 8 |
| Career points | 1672 |
| Championships | 0 |
Lewis Hamilton
Since the introduction of the rule that has allowed drivers to race with a fixed number, Lewis Hamilton has adorned all his F1 cars with #44 and will continue to do so next year.
An eight-year-old Hamilton didn’t know what number to use for his first karting race. Looking for inspiration, he saw his father’s licence plate, which started with F44.
The 105-time race winner had laid the foundation for his successful career with the now-iconic number and therefore wanted to use it in F1. Even in the years when he had the privilege to race with #1 as world champion, the Brit stuck to his #44.
“When I was eight, we got a really old go kart and it was owned by, like, five or six different families,” Hamilton recalled.
“It was from the back of the newspaper. My dad got this kart, rebuilt it and we had to enter our first race and my dad didn’t know what number to use. And on the number plate of his car was F44.
“That’s the number we raced with for many years, and then when I joined Formula 1, I had to be whatever the team asked me to be, and then further into my career they then decided to allow the drivers to choose their one number and that would be their number forever, and I went back to the number where it all started.”
The seven-time champion added, “It’s the number that my family recognised the most, it’s the number that has been loyal to me and to my fans.”
| Number | #44 |
| Previous owner of number | No previous owner |
| Pole positions | 104 |
| Podiums | 202 |
| Wins | 105 |
| Career points | 5018.5 |
| Championships | 7 |
Alex Albon
Williams’s Alex Albon will stick with the number 23 in the 2026 F1 season.
The Thai-British driver used to race with #46 on his kart in his junior days as a tribute to childhood hero and MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi. However, he decided to halve the number as he embarked on his F1 journey in 2019.
Adding to its significance, Albon’s birthday falls on March 23, making it a perfect match.
“I haven’t had a set number for most of my career,” the 29-year-old revealed ahead of his F1 debut back in 2019.
“The only time I did have one was when I was in go-karts and I had number 46—for Valentino Rossi, because I’m a massive fan. I didn’t want to be 46 now because that’s his, so I thought ‘23, half the number’, and I was also born on 23 March. That seemed about right.”
| Number | #23 |
| Previous owner of number | No previous owner |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Podiums | 2 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Career points | 313 |
| Championships | 0 |
Carlos Sainz
When Carlos Sainz made his F1 debut, he wanted the number five on his car. However, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel was already making use of it.
So, the Spaniard got a bit creative and put two fives together, making 55, which he still races with today.
The 31-year-old clarified: “Carlos Sainz. One S is one five. The other S is another five. So, it’s a 55. My favourite number is number 5. Sebastian Vettel had the five; so I had to change. Then I came out with this word game of my name and the fives.”
| Number | #55 |
| Previous owner of number | No previous owner |
| Pole positions | 6 |
| Podiums | 29 |
| Wins | 4 |
| Career points | 1336.5 |
| Championships | 0 |
Liam Lawson
After temporarily running #40 in 2023, Liam Lawson opted for the number 30 when his return to the F1 grid became permanent from the 2024 United States Grand Prix onwards. His Racing Bulls car will display #30 on its nose in 2026 as well.
It is a number the New Zealander has raced with since he was a child. It actually belonged to a close friend and hero who also donned that number in his own junior career.
The 23-year-old used said number for a large part of his junior career, including his time in Formula First and DTM.
“I’m going to be racing with number 30 because it’s the number that I’ve raced with since I was eight years old,” Lawson disclosed on an Instagram video for Racing Bulls.
“It wasn’t actually the very first number I drove with, that was 18. But [in] my first year of go-kart racing, I moved into a team, and there was a guy who looked after me, who became like my hero, my idol when I was a kid in go-karts, and he ran with number 30. So, I picked number 30 because of him.
“He taught me everything about go-kart racing when I was younger and then basically I held that number all the way through until today. And I’ve told him as well that I’m bringing our number into Formula 1 and he’s ****ing stoked!”
| Number | #30 |
| Previous owner of number | Jolyon Palmer |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Career points | 44 |
| Championships | 0 |
Arvid Lindblad
Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad, the only new addition to the full-time grid next year, will carry the number 41.
The 18-year-old has not yet publicly specified the reasoning behind his choice.
While #41 hasn’t been a permanent race number in recent F1 history, it did get FP1 runouts with Hadjar and Susie Wolff.
Fernando Alonso
Like many drivers, Fernando Alonso has chosen a number that holds great significance for him. The Spaniard races with the number 14 on his car, as it brings back special memories from his karting years.
“I will use 14,” the two-time world champion told reporters in Madrid ahead of the 2014 F1 season.
“It has been my lucky number since 1996, when, while I was 14, on July 14 and with kart number 14 I won the world championship. Since then I have always used 14.”
| Number | #14 |
| Previous owner of number | No previous owner |
| Pole positions | 22 |
| Podiums | 106 |
| Wins | 32 |
| Career points | 2393 |
| Championships | 2 |
Lance Stroll
Lance Stroll will fit his Aston Martin F1 car with the number 18 once more in 2026.
In the early days of his career, the Canadian won the Italian Formula 4 Championship and the Toyota Racing Series while sporting #18. He eventually decided to stick with it when Williams recruited him to F1 shortly after his 18th birthday.
“It means a lot to me, it’s a lot of history with number 18,” admitted Stroll.
“Winning the Formula 3 championship, winning the Formula 4 championship. I’m a little bit superstitious, not very superstitious but little things like that are important to me. I’ve just stuck with it ever since and I don’t want to change.”
| Number | #18 |
| Previous owner of number | No previous owner |
| Pole positions | 1 |
| Podiums | 3 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Career points | 325 |
| Championships | 0 |
Ollie Bearman
Haas driver Ollie Bearman uses the highest number on the F1 grid, opting for #87.
The Brit’s preferred number is a combination of his and his brother’s birth dates, which he has used throughout his racing career.
“It [#87] 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 eighth of May, and my brother on the seventh of August,” Bearman explained ahead of the British Grand Prix in 2024.
“So, 87 is the number of choice, and that will continue to be the case.”
| Number | #87 |
| Previous owner of number | No previous owner |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Career points | 48 |
| Championships | 0 |
Esteban Ocon
Esteban Ocon races with #31 on his car to commemorate the most successful year of his junior career. He had won the French karting championship in the Minimes category wearing the number 31 in 2007.
“In 2007, that year when I won the [Championnat de France karting] championship, I had the number 31,” said Ocon.
“It’s still my most successful year to date. That’s why I will go 31 for the rest of my career.”
| Number | #31 |
| Previous owner of number | No previous owner |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Podiums | 4 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Career points | 483 |
| Championships | 0 |
Nico Hülkenberg
When Nico Hülkenberg 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 pretty popular in F1, with Gilles Villeneuve most famously associated with the iconic #27 Ferrari. A handful of other stars, including Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell, Alan Jones, and Jean Alesi, had occasionally sported #27 as well between the 70s and the early 2000s.
However, no other driver has run the historic number since 2014, and for the German, the explanation is rather simple. It is the date and month, August 19, of his birthday added together.
| Number | #27 |
| Previous owner of number | No previous owner |
| Pole positions | 1 |
| Podiums | 1 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Career points | 622 |
| Championships | 0 |
Gabriel Bortoleto
As Audi complete their full takeover of Sauber and make their F1 debut in 2026, Gabriel Bortoleto will continue to put #5 to use for his second season in the sport.
Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, and Michael Schumacher had notably worn the number 5 in the 80s and the 90s, and even Fernando Alonso in 2005, the year of his first F1 title.
Four-time world champion Vettel then sported the number in 2010, when he landed his first title crown. He reverted to #5 in 2015 and used it until the end of his final F1 campaign in 2022. Taking into account the two-year freeze, it was finally available for 2025.
Bortoleto went for the number as a nod to the Formula 3 title he won in 2023, when he was competing with car #5 at Trident. The figure is also partly a reference to the number 85 he used in his karting days.
“Because I won Formula 3 with this number,” the Brazilian confirmed on Kick Sauber’s social media.
“And actually from 85, that is the number I used to use in the past when I started go-karting.”
| Number | #5 |
| Previous owner of number | Sebastian Vettel |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Career points | 19 |
| Championships | 0 |
Pierre Gasly
Pierre Gasly adopted #10 as his permanent F1 race number because he had won the Formula Renault Eurocup 2.0 series with it in 2013. Furthermore, it is a tribute to his football hero, Zinedine Zidane, who donned the iconic number 10 for the French national team.
“I raced with that number in 2013 when I became Formula Renault European champion,” stated Gasly.
“I was a big fan, I am still a big fan of Zinedine Zidane, who was number 10 for the national French team.”
| Number | #10 |
| Previous owner of number | Kamui Kobayashi |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Podiums | 5 |
| Wins | 1 |
| Career points | 458 |
| Championships | 0 |
Franco Colapinto
After a point-less 2025 F1 campaign, Franco Colapinto will continue to drive for Alpine in 2026 and run the number 43.
The 22-year-old picked #43 for its strong connection to his successful junior career. That number saw him become the 2018 Argentine Senior Champion in karting. He also went on to claim the Spanish F4 title in 2019 and a P3 finish in the 2020 Toyota Racing Series with the #43.
Moreover, it was a number his father, Aníbal Colapinto, had competed with in Turismo Nacional, making it a personal brand and symbol of family legacy.
| Number | #43 |
| Previous owner of number | No previous owner |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Podiums | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Career points | 5 |
| Championships | 0 |
Sergio Pérez
Sergio Pérez is coming back to Formula 1 after remaining on the sidelines for a year. Having signed with the brand-new Cadillac team, the number 11 will feature once again on his car in 2026.
Unlike many of the drivers, Pérez’s race number has nothing to do with his success in junior formulae. It comes from one of his childhood heroes, Ivan Zamorano, who wore the same number on his shirt in his final season playing for the Mexican’s favourite football team, Club America.
Pérez elaborated: “I used to admire a football player. His name is Ivan Zamorano, and he had the number 11. So, when I was at karting, I said I also want to have the number 11. Since then, I’ve always used 11. Still my email is with number 11.”
| Number | #11 |
| Previous owner of number | No previous owner |
| Pole positions | 3 |
| Podiums | 39 |
| Wins | 6 |
| Career points | 1638 |
| Championships | 0 |
Valtteri Bottas
After dropping off the grid at the end of 2024, Valtteri Bottas will return to F1 next season with Cadillac. He will resume racing with his signature number 77.
Bottas, like several other drivers, wanted the lucky number seven. However, his compatriot Räikkönen had already taken it. Eventually, the Finn decided that two was better than one and opted instead for #77.
Revealing how he had sought to incorporate the number into a logo design in the beginning, the 36-year-old also admitted that his plan didn’t come to fruition.
“I actually initially thought I would choose seven, but then I decided actually 77 would be nice,” Bottas explained.
“I just really liked the number. I’m not really superstitious or anything. Initially there was a bit of plan that we could try ‘Val77eri Bo77as’, so that instead of a ‘T’ you could use a seven for some designs, but I never really used it anyway.”
| Number | #77 |
| Previous owner of number | No previous owner |
| Pole positions | 20 |
| Podiums | 67 |
| Wins | 10 |
| Career points | 1797 |
| Championships | 0 |
