In the beginning it was Johnnie Parsons in Indianapolis in 1950, when the 500 miles was still part of the Formula 1 world calendar. The last to use it in the race was instead Sebastian Vettel, in the 2014 Abu Dhabi GP. In Bahrain, next March 20, the # 1 will make its comeback as the number officially used in a Formula 1 GP, almost eight years after the last time. Max Verstappen in fact it has chosen to boast of what is the symbol historically reserved for the reigning world champion. An honor that Mercedes had never had in its seven years of domination, given that Lewis Hamilton has always preferred to keep the # 44 and Nico Rosberg did not defend the title won the previous year in 2017.
In fact, during the last ‘reign’ of Lewis Hamilton, which lasted from 2017 to 2020, the Englishman had allowed himself some exits with the # 1. Never in the race or in qualifying, however, but only during free practice. It had happened for example during the PL1 of the Abu Dhabi GP, a season in which the native of Stevenage had secured the conquest of his fifth world championship with two GPs before the end of the championship. The number 1 in F1 history is also the most successful with 181 wins, although it has only been associated with the reigning world champion since 1974.
Overall, 51 drivers have won the # 1 (Schumacher the record holder, with 120 races), but 22 of these have never won a world title in their career. Before, in fact, the race numbers were assigned by the organizers of each individual event. Ironically, however, precisely in ’74 the symbol of primacy was worn throughout the year by a rider who had never been a world champion in his career: Ronnie Peterson. The retirement of Jackie Stewart, reigning champion, had in fact forced the Federation to attribute that number to the ‘first guide’ of the world constructors’ champion team: precisely the Swede, under Lotus.
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