Kimi Antonelli confirmed he will not use the number one on his car in 2026, saying keeping number 12 will be important for “staying humble” as reigning world champion.
Antonelli became Formula 1’s youngest world champion at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
F1 drivers pick a number to race with for their career, but they can opt to take number one any time they are defending champion.
Antonelli picked his career number as a tribute to Ayrton Senna, whose car carried the number when he was first champion in 1988.
“I’m going to keep using the number 12,” Antonelli said after his championship win.
“It’s a very special number for me and one of the ways I have of keeping my feet on the ground and staying humble. Keeping the 12 allows me to start anew and keep improving.”
He also joked that previous uses of the number in his junior career have all gone terribly.
“I’m a very superstitious person, and the number one never brought me luck. Every time I used it, things went extremely badly for me. So that’s another reason to keep the number 12.”
Drivers are not obliged to run the number one and there have only been a handful of uses under the current rules. Sebastian Vettel ran it in 2014, and Max Verstappen did between 2022 and 2025, while Norris did this season.
Between 2015 and 2022, Lewis Hamilton always opted to keep the number 44, while Nico Rosberg retired immediately after winning the title in 2016.
Antonelli has explained previously his reasoning for the Senna number pick. Antonelli told ESPN in 2025 that as a kid he asked his dad to bring him tapes of old Formula 1 races in order to study and learn about racing.
He became obsessed with Ayrton Senna and took the number 12, which the Brazilian legend used at Lotus between 1985 and 1987 and then during McLaren’s all-conquering 1988 season.
Antonelli is a known Senna fan and the Italian driver visited his gravesite ahead of the 2025 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
“I will have a special helmet for Brazil, for Ayrton,” he added.
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“Also because it’s going to be 35 years since he won [with his car stuck] in sixth gear, his home race. So, yeah, it’s going to be a tribute helmet for Brazil, for Ayrton, and I think it’s one of my best helmets that I’ve made.
“So hopefully you guys, everyone, hopefully you will like it. But, yeah, it’s going to be a very special weekend. I’m very much looking forward to it because the support from Brazil in general has been incredible, not only this year but already from last year.”