Comments on: Numbers Nostalgia

By: CHRISK5

CHRISK5 — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 21:14:57 +0000

In reply to Aly. Thanks for that confirmation Aly. Quite an obscure fact as it was the only season that McLaren had those numbers.

By: Aly

Aly — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:39:51 +0000

There are merits for lots of systems, the top ten numbers being the top team drivers with their team mates having the mating number (1 & 11, 2 & 22 etc) like the BTCC used to be or drivers keeping thier own number like NASCAR, but they then don’t take the #1 when they win the title, which seams odd lol. I like the current system as it gives the teams something to aim for as it is normally about the drivers championship.

By: Aly

Aly — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 09:36:28 +0000

In reply to CHRISK5. McLaren ran Seena and Berger with 27 & 28 in 1990 when Prost went to Ferrari after winning the 1989 championship for McLaren.

By: Kenny

Kenny — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 08:27:14 +0000

In reply to OllieJ.

Ronnie did justice to the number “1” by winning races in what was by 1974 an outdated car.

You may recall in the days when numbers were doled out at each race (I believe this was done to counter unauthorized race programs) that Argentina allowed only even numbers. I don’t know why they did that.

By: OllieJ

OllieJ — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 14:06:05 +0000

Thanks for the feedback. It didn’t take too long too do, especially as there were so few new teams between 2000-2009!

I didn’t know Lotus got 1 & 2 in 1974, although to be fair Peterson is one of the few non-champions to deserve a number 1.

By: CHRISK5

CHRISK5 — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 21:29:36 +0000

Correction,Ferrari always had 27 & 28.

Probably got McLaren/Ferrari mixed up with the identical 2007/2008 seasons they had !

By: CHRISK5

CHRISK5 — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 21:18:33 +0000

The most evocative numbers are 5 and 12.

Number 5 – Mansell (Williams-Renault 1992) and before
Alonso (Renault 2005)
Vettel (RedBull-Renault 2010)

Number 12 – Most of the JPS Lotuses had that number &
ofcourse when Senna drove for them.

As I recall,both McLaren and Ferrari swapped the numbers 27 & 28 when they didn’t have the current driver champion in their team.

I do prefer the current system since 1996 onwards of car numbers being based on previous year results,
if only for the purpose of clear transparency.

By: Seb Patrick

Seb Patrick — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 13:05:26 +0000

I dunno, maybe it’s just that I was a Hill fan, but I love seeing a big zero on a car…

By: Kenny

Kenny — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 13:03:54 +0000

Rather than use “0” if the current WDC has retired, the current WCC should get the numbers “1” and “2”. This was done in 1974- after Stewart retired Lotus got 1 for Peterson and 2 for Ickx. Alternatively, don’t use the number “1” at all…start with “2”.

By: Gaz

Gaz — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 09:13:15 +0000

I like the current system as it’s easy to understand – the lower the number the better the team generally.

I am a fan though of the idea of driver specific numbers though – it works a treat in MotoGP as Ned says.

V8 Supercars here is Oz uses a combo of everything – the reigning champ carries number 1, some teams always have the same numbers (DJR is always #17 & #18, HRT #2 & #22) and some drivers keep their numbers no matter who they drive for (Murphy #51 for example).

For merchandise and marketing etc. retaining a number makes a lot of sense.

In F1, would driver’s retaining their own number detract from the teams granduer? Would it matter?