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From following idols to marking birthdays – How the 2025 F1 rookies chose their driver numbers
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With six drivers about to make their full-time F1 debuts, several new race numbers will be appearing on the grid when the 2025 season gets underway.
But how did Kimi Antonelli, Ollie Bearman, Gabriel Bortoleto, Jack Doohan, Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson select their numbers for their first full campaigns? We’ve delved into the story behind each driver’s choice…
F1 ROOKIES LOWDOWN: Your comprehensive guide to the young drivers joining the Formula 1 grid in 2025
Kimi Antonelli – #12
The number 12 was hot property this year, with both Kimi Antonelli and fellow rookie Jack Doohan keen to take it. But it was Antonelli who beat the Australian to the post, meaning that his Mercedes will run with what he has called a “special” number.
Antonelli previously used #12 in his title-winning campaigns in the 2022 Italian and German F4 series, as well as running it when he clinched the Middle East and European Formula Regional championships in 2023.
And it is no coincidence that the number was sported by another F1 legend of the past and one of Antonelli's idols – that being a certain Ayrton Senna. The Brazilian great raced with #12 for three seasons with Lotus between 1985 and 1987, taking his first win in F1 in Portugal in 1985.
Antonelli will run the number 12 on his Mercedes during his rookie campaign
“It is because of Ayrton,” Antonelli said of the decision behind his number in an interview on Mercedes’ 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.”
READ MORE: Antonelli passes driving test weeks before making F1 debut with Mercedes
Ollie Bearman – #87
During his first super sub appearance for Ferrari at the 2024 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Ollie Bearman temporarily ran with the number 38 – but the Briton will use 87 for his first full season in the sport with Haas.
Like Antonelli, the number is one that Bearman previously used in his junior career. The origins of it hold a special meaning, too, with the 19-year-old’s father having raced with #87 himself.
This is because Bearman’s birthday is May 8 while his younger brother Thomas was born on August 7, hence the combination of those two important dates for the family.
Bearman is preparing for his full-time debut in F1 following his super sub appearances for Ferrari and Haas in 2024
Gabriel Bortoleto – #5
A driver’s number is reserved for two seasons after they have departed Formula 1, meaning that nobody else is able to select it until that time is up.
With two campaigns having now passed since Sebastian Vettel exited the sport at the end of 2022, his previous number of 5 has become available – and has now been taken by Kick Sauber rookie Gabriel Bortoleto.
The number has proven successful for Bortoleto in the past, with the Brazilian having sported it during his championship-winning Formula 3 campaign back in 2023.
Jack Doohan – #7
As previously mentioned, #12 had been on Jack Doohan’s wish list for 2025. But with that choice instead going to Antonelli, the Alpine driver is set to run the number 7 on his car.
Doohan and Bortoleto will join fellow F2 graduates Antonelli and Bearman on the grid in 2025
Explaining the decision in a post on Instagram, Doohan said: “I really wanted to go with a number I raced with before, something that had meaning for me. I raced with number 7 in 2019, and also one of my idols, a super special person and driver, Kimi Raikkonen, who also drove with that number.
“I’m really looking forward to continuing it on and making it my own and getting some luck from number 7.”
READ MORE: Oakes insists Doohan will get 'fair crack' for Alpine amid Colapinto signing
Isack Hadjar – #6
The number 6 has been used by both Nico Rosberg and Nicholas Latifi in the past – but now it is the turn of Racing Bulls debutant Isack Hadjar to carry it on his car.
Like some of his fellow rookies, Hadjar has opted for a number that he previously used in his junior career, having raced with #6 during his karting days.
Hadjar will race with the number 6 during his F1 debut, having stepped up to replace Lawson at Racing Bulls
Liam Lawson – #30
Liam Lawson has been promoted to Red Bull for his first full-time season in F1 following two super sub outings for Racing Bulls in 2023 and 2024, and the New Zealander will bring with him the number 30 that he used during those appearances.
This is a number that holds a special significance for Lawson, with the 22-year-old explaining in an Instagram video last year: “It’s the number I’ve raced with since I was eight years old.
“It wasn’t actually the very first number I drove with – that was 18 – but my first year of go-kart racing, I moved into a team and there was a guy who looked after me.
“He became 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.”
Lawson will take the number 30 with him when he joins Red Bull in 2025
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