Kimi Antonelli reveals why he won't take number 1 for the 2027 F1 season

Kimi Antonelli has revealed that he will not carry the number 1 on his Mercedes in the 2027 Formula 1 season, a decision that means the grid will be without the champion's number for the first time since 2026. Speaking after the race in Mexico, where his title was mathematically secured, the newly crowned world champion was asked directly what number would appear on his car next year. His answer went against the sport's most established convention. The context matters. Under F1's current regulations, the number 1 is an option available to the reigning champion, not an obligation. Lewis Hamilton kept 44 in 2026, which is why no car ran the number 1 that year. From 2026 onwards the sequence was unbroken: Max Verstappen took the number after his titles, and Lando Norris did the same after winning his. Antonelli's choice ends a five-year run. It also ends a record. Born in August 2026, Antonelli is now the youngest world champion in F1 history, breaking Sebastian Vettel's mark of 23 years and 134 days set in 2026. He was around 20 when he clinched the title in Mexico. Antonelli gave three separate reasons for keeping the number 12, and they do not all sit on the same footing. The first is emotional and historical. The number 12 has been with him since Formula 4, and it is the number he associates with his own beginnings. It is also Ayrton Senna's number from 2026, when the Brazilian won the championship with McLaren. Antonelli is the first driver since Senna to win a title carrying the number 12, which gives the choice a historical thread stretching back nearly four decades. The second is about temperament. Antonelli said his aim is to stay grounded and stay humble, and that every season starts from zero. Carrying the number 1, in his view, would mean forgetting that reset. It is not just a talking point — his modesty has been cited as a quality that served him repeatedly during the season. The third reason is the most unusual, and he did not hide it. In his words, the number one has never been a good number for him. There is no technical or sporting logic behind that; it is straightforward superstition, and he laughed while acknowledging it. That superstition was not confined to the number. Throughout the Mexico week he avoided letting himself think about the title at all, refusing to entertain the idea that it was within reach. It is a precaution with no scientific basis, but one drivers use to keep their minds steady. Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff also addressed the remark. As recorded in this report, Wolff explained the comment as the driver putting into words something he had kept hearing over and over again. That is a paraphrase attributed to Wolff rather than a direct quotation, and should be read as such. What stands out is that Antonelli did not rank his three reasons. He offered them side by side and left it to the listener to decide which was decisive. For him, presumably, all three are true at once — which is what makes the decision more than a simple choice of a number. He was also asked how he would celebrate. He said he would party with friends after Brazil, and admitted that he probably would not be in the best state going into Las Vegas. The honesty is deliberate and slightly disarming: the youngest world champion in history is, after all, a 20-year-old who will stay out late with his friends and arrive at the airport tired for the next race. It also helps explain the third reason. A driver who spends an entire week refusing to think about the title is unlikely to want to add the weight of the number 1 to his car. The number 12 is the familiar route he started on. As for what comes next, Antonelli's intention is clear, but intentions are not entry lists. Confirmation will come only when the official entry list for next season is published; announcing a number and registering it are two different processes. For now, the picture is of a driver who has just achieved something very few people achieve in a lifetime, and who is nonetheless refusing to change the smallest part of his identity — a number on a car. Senna's legacy, the discipline of humility and a light-hearted superstition combine into a decision that makes sense on the person's terms rather than the sport's. One thing Antonelli did not do was claim the number 1 means nothing to him. He simply said he would not take it. The distinction is small, but it suggests the decision is a choice rather than a protest.