Antonelli Turns Down F1's Number 1, Sticking With 12 for 2027

Kiki Antonelli will not race with the number 1 on his Mercedes in 2027, opting instead to keep the number 12 he carried to a maiden Formula 1 title. The Italian confirmed the decision on Sunday, days after sealing the championship with third place at the Mexico City Grand Prix, with four rounds still remaining in his sophomore campaign.

Why it matters:

The champion's right to run number 1 has become a rare sight in modern F1, and Antonelli's choice means the digit will be absent from the grid for the first time since 2021. More tellingly, it echoes the man he replaced at Mercedes: Lewis Hamilton declined the number 1 throughout his title-laden years with the team, preferring to keep his own identity on the car.

The details:

• Antonelli, who took Vettel's record as F1's youngest champion, admitted he had been leaning towards the switch before settling on continuity.
• His reasoning was part superstition, part mindset: "Number one has never been a good number for me. Whenever I put it, it went extremely badly."
• Keeping 12, he said, lets him "stay grounded, to stay humble" and gives him "a new point where to start and build on everything again."
• The number 1 was last seen in 2021 with Hamilton as defending champion. Lando Norris ran it in 2026 after beating Max Verstappen to the 2025 title, while Verstappen had carried it since 2022.
• Sebastian Vettel was the first driver to take up the option in 2014, when the FIA allowed drivers to pick their own numbers.

What's next:

Antonelli closes out his title year over the final four rounds before turning to a 2027 defence in a Mercedes that will again carry the number 12. For the sport, it means another season without the number 1 on the grid — a quirk that says as much about driver branding and routine as it does about superstition.