F1 Numbers

[D28]

I know in the early years the World Champion did not always carry no 1, there are lots of photos of Fangio with a variety of numbers. I thought by 1965 the no1- WC rule was established. Still in reading a historical report of the 1965 Monaco by Gregor Grant, I notice Brabham is wearing no 1 while Surtees (defending WC) wears no 18. Does anyone have an explanation and could they tell us when the no 1 convention was set.

[Rollo]

The answer to this isn't clear cut.

The most reliable place that records this sort of thing is: http://www.grandprix.com

For the 1967 season, nominally Jack Brabham wore the No.1 plate though for a few GP it found its way onto other cars. Certainly by 1968, in every race No.1 was worn by the World Champion, but there are a few exceptions such as John Watson in 1985 at Brands Hatch
http://grandprixarchives.files.wordpress.com/2006/10/johnwatson.jpg
For all intents and purposes the current system began in 1974, where 1 & 2 are worn by the team of the previous season's World Champion.

[Sonic]

Personally I prefered it when teams had assigned numbers; Tyrell 3 and 4, Ferrari 27, 28 etc. Moto gp has the right idea. The champ is entitled to no. 1 if they want but if they choose not to run it it remains unassigned.

[V12]

I liked the 1974-1995 system the best, as it gave a real link to the past. Ukyo Katayama and Mika Salo wore numbers 3 and 4 in 1995 on account of what Jackie Stewart and Francois Cevert achieved in 1973. Ferrari's long run with 27 and 28, romantic as it was, was a constant reminder of the team not having won any (drivers) championships since a relatively young Williams team, bearing 27 and 28, claimed their title (and numbers) in 1980.

To answer the original question:

Up until mid-way through 1973, numbers were assigned pretty much at the discretion of the individual race organisers. This could be in order of reputation, order of the entries being received through the post, while some events such as Monaco had their own unique system (being ordered alphabetically in terms of country name (in the French language) and then make or entrant). This explains your Monaco 1965 observation (Grande-Bretagne < Italie, so Brabham < Ferrari, and indeed Brabham came alphabetically before BRM, Cooper, Lotus etc. so they get 1 & 2)

Sometimes, instead of cars using 1,2,3,4... some events would use 2,4,6,8... with odd numbers sometimes being reserved for spare cars.

Towards the end of the 1960s, as things started to homogenise a bit (most established teams would run two cars and enter for the entire season), things became a bit more structured and yes often the reigning champion would be given number 1, but it was certainly not a given.

Midway through 1973, the numbers were standardised (loosely!) in the following fashion:

1 2 - Lotus
3 4 - Ferrari
5 6 - Tyrrell
7 8 - McLaren
9 10 11 - Brabham
12 - Hill
14 15 - March
16 17 - Shadow
19 20 21 - BRM
22 - Tecno
23 24 - Surtees
25 26 - Williams
27 - Hesketh

But even then the entry lists would fluctuate a little from race to race, and I am guessing that the standardised numbers were as a result of an informal agreement rather than any cast iron rule (especially since they seemed to be loosely based on reputation and such rather than any championship standings, Ferrari had 3 and 4 despite being rubbish at the time).

1974 saw things done according to the previous year's constructors championship order:

1 2 - Lotus
3 4 - Tyrrell
5 6 - McLaren
7 8 - Brabham
9 10 - March
11 12 - Ferrari
14 15 - BRM
16 17 - Shadow
18 19 - Surtees
20 21 - Williams
22 23 - Ensign
24 25 - Hesketh
26 27 - Hill

Although even then, privateer and/or one-off entry numbers could change through the season, and the numbers of BRM, Ensign and the second Hesketh would often be 'borrowed' by one-off entries when not being used themselves.

I actually don't think it was till about 1978 or 1979 that each and every number was used on no more than one car throughout a season!

[Sonic]

Wow. Sod wiki - just ask V12. :D

[Donney]

Thanks V12. Wow!

[woody2goody]

I wouldn't mind if drivers could choose their own numbers, but each number in the current system directly relates to the previous season's successes and failures, which I like.

I'd like to see a system where maybe the top 5 in the championship had numbers 1-5, and the other numbers were assigned by constructors position.

09 would look like this:

1. Hamilton
2. Massa
3. Raikkonen
4. Kubica
5. Alonso

then:

6. Kovalainen
7. Heidfeld
8. Piquet
9. Trulli
10. Glock and so on...

[cynisca]

Great inside in that part of Formula One's history, but why is nobody talking about the number 0. The last driver who got the number 0 has been Damon Hill in 1992, I think.

And why have not been given the number 13?

[inimitablestoo]

13 has been used twice - Moises Solana and Divina Galica, if memory serves - but was dismissed for the usual superstitious reasons.

Aside from Damon Hill, number 0 did go to Jody Scheckter in a third McLaren for a couple of Grands Prix in 1973.

And the largest number to appear on a Formula 1 car was 208, before anyone asks. Something to do with Radio Luxembourg I think.

[DazzlaF1]

13 has been used twice - Moises Solana and Divina Galica, if memory serves - but was dismissed for the usual superstitious reasons.

Aside from Damon Hill, number 0 did go to Jody Scheckter in a third McLaren for a couple of Grands Prix in 1973.

And the largest number to appear on a Formula 1 car was 208, before anyone asks. Something to do with Radio Luxembourg I think.

That was Lella Lombardi in a privateer Brabham i think

[Sonic]

And why have not been given the number 13?

And soooo superstitious are we that most tracks don't have a garage 13. And if you qualify 13th on the grid when you go to the holding area to form up you'll most likely find yourself in position 12A. Stupid!

[philipbain]

Great inside in that part of Formula One's history, but why is nobody talking about the number 0. The last driver who got the number 0 has been Damon Hill in 1992, I think.

Damon Hill ran 0 on his car in 1993 and 1994 due to the fact that the champions from both the 1992 and 1993 did not defend thier titles, the 1992 title was won by Mansell who went off to Indycar after he found out how much they were willing to pay and the 1993 title was won by Alain Prost in his final year before retiring.

[inimitablestoo]

And that itself has been a modern interpretation of the system: back in 1974, the first full year of season-long numbers, reigning champion Jackie Stewart was absent, so the reigning constructors' champions, Lotus, took the numbers 1 and 2. Thus Ronnie Peterson had the number 1, despite never winning the World Championship that many felt he would surely have done at some point.

[D-Type]

At one time in some countries itwas customary to only use even numbers, thus avoiding unlucky numbers 13 and 17 (unlucky in Italy I think).

Then no 4 is 'unlucky' in China and Japan. So although he was Tyrrell no 2 driver in 1990, Nakajima was given no 3 instead of no 4.

And as for the Belgians... in the fifties they changed the numbers between practice and the race to foil printers of pirate programmes.