F1 car numbers under the pre-1996 system

[Yannick]

In 1996, F1 changed the way in which it gives car numbers to teams. Now, they are given out each year based on the constructors table from the previous year, with the highest ranked team getting the lowest car numbers, besides the team of the drivers champion getting car numbers 1 and 2 respectively. But before 199X, it was only the team of the drivers champion that switched car numbers with the team of the previous year's drivers champion. Besides that, only occasionally, when too many holes opened up in the car numbers list, teams with high numbers were given lower numbers.

So how would the entrant list of 2009 look like, had F1 not changed its car numbers system?
Let's find out!

So in 1995, car numbers were distributed like this:

1, 2 Benetton
3, 4 Tyrrell
5, 6 Williams
7, 8 McLaren
9,10 Arrows a/k/a Footwork
11,12 Simtek
14,15 Jordan
16,17 Pacific

then a hole of 18, 19 and 20 that was left from a recent re-shuffling.
17,18 belonged to AGS for a while and 19,20 were Benetton's numbers, which they would have handed down to Williams in 1994, but the departures of Motor Racing Developments a/k/a Brabham and Lotus opened up lower numbers.

21,22 Forti Corse
23,24 Minardi
25,26 Ligier
27,28 Ferrari (those numbers were a present from Williams in 1980)
29,30 Sauber

At the end of 1995, drivers champion Michael Schumacher took the No.1 with him to Ferrari, which would have left Benetton with 27,28. Keen on keeping numbers low, it's somewhat likely that they would have been given back their 19,20 instead, with Sauber taking over the 16,17 from Pacific, who had to retire them.

With the 1996 title having gone out to Damon Hill in the Williams, Ferrari would have gotten 5,6 at the end of the year, with new entrants Stewart taking the 11,12 formerly of Simtek and late entrants Master Card Lola getting the numbers formerly held by Forti and Scuderia Italia before them: 21,22.

The championship win of Jacques Villeneuve in the Williams in 1997 wouldn't have changed anything. Mika Hakkinen's title for McLaren would have given Williams the 7,8. BAR would have taken over the 3,4 from their predecessor Tyrrell, just like Prost GP would have taken over the 25,26 from Ligier. The disappearance of Master Card Lola would have gone unnoticed by all but F1 Rejects aficionados.

Michael Schumacher's title for Ferrari in 2000 would then have handed down the 5,6 to McLaren, with Jaguar having effectively taken over the 11,12 from Stewart Grand Prix, and in 2002, Toyota would have moved into the open slot of 21,22 whilst the departure of Prost GP retired the numbers 25,26.

The 2005 title of Fernando Alonso would have given the numbers 19,20 to Ferrari, but as Arrows had folded before 2003, 9,10 were available and given to Ferrari instead. This opens up the possibility of closing the gap of the number 18. Therefore, Minardi might have ended up with 18,19 and Toyota switched over to 20,21.

With reigning champion Alonso moving to McLaren in 2007, he handed the 5,6 to Renault.

Kimi Raikkonen went on to win the title in 2007, so McLaren would have gotten the 9,10 from Ferrari the following year. Enter SuperAguri, but as they are now off the grid yet again, it is not necessary to hand them numbers here. Still, this is F1rejects.com, so let's give them 22,23.

After the 2008 title was won by Lewis Hamilton for McLaren, that returned the 9,10 to Ferrari.
So under the old car numbers system, things would look like this in 2009:

1, 2 McLaren
3, 4 Brawn GP (having taken over from BAR / Honda)
5, 6 Renault
7, 8 Williams
9,10 Ferrari
11,12 Red Bull Racing (having taken over from Stewart and Jaguar)
14,15 Force India (having taken over from Jordan, Midland MF-1 and Spyker)
16,17 BMW Sauber
18,19 Scuderia Toro Rosso (having taken over from Minardi, see above)
20,21 Toyota

Surprisingly, this is not much different.

[tc3j3r]

With the 1996 title having gone out to Damon Hill in the Williams [...]

The championship win of Jacques Villeneuve in the Williams in 1997 wouldn't have changed anything.

Hang on, that's not right, Hill drove for Arrows in 1997, not Williams, and 1&2 always go to the reigning champion's team, regardless of whether or not he is still driving for the team that he won the title with. (E.g. Ferrari had 1&2 in 1990 because Prost was driving for them, even though he had won the title for McLaren). So Arrows, not Williams would have had 1&2 in 1997, and Ferrari would have taken over Arrows' old numbers of 9&10 rather than 5&6. Arrows would have got Williams' old 5&6 when Villeneuve won the title in 1997, meaning that when Arrows folded, 5&6 would have been available not 9&10.

McLaren would have taken Ferrari's 9&10 when Schumacher won in 2000, while the Scuderia would have taken over the vacant 5&6 left by Arrows in 2006. Renault would have got 9&10 when Alonso switched to McLaren, and McLaren would have got 5&6 from Ferrari in 2008. This year they would have swapped back so the real list looks like this:

1, 2 McLaren
3, 4 Brawn GP (having taken over from BAR / Honda)
5, 6 Ferrari
7, 8 Williams
9,10 Renault
11,12 Red Bull Racing (having taken over from Stewart and Jaguar)
14,15 Force India (having taken over from Jordan, Midland MF-1 and Spyker)
16,17 BMW Sauber
18,19 Scuderia Toro Rosso (having taken over from Minardi, see above)
20,21 Toyota

[RejectSteve]

then a hole of 18, 19 and 20 that was left from a recent re-shuffling.
17,18 belonged to AGS for a while and 19,20 were Benetton's numbers, which they would have handed down to Williams in 1994, but the departures of Motor Racing Developments a/k/a Brabham and Lotus opened up lower numbers.

Just to explain that, Larrousse was on the 1995 entry list with 19 and 20.

[midgrid]

Under the current system Brawn moved to 22 & 23 from Honda's projected 18 & 19, due to being considered a quasi-new team (although they did not have to pay an entry fee, and receive TV money). Would it not be the same under the old system?

[Bleu]

Well, between 1990-1994 all new teams (Life, Jordan, Andrea Moda, Sauber, Simtek, Pacific) always got biggest numbers, unlike in few years earlier, like Rial (single car team) got 22 when they started, Onyx got 36/37 ahead of Rial and AGS.

Forti got 21/22 when they started and break the tradition of few previous years.

[PayasYouDNPQ]

Gaps in the numbering usually came from teams that were originally entered but then were'nt able to. Larrousse in 1995 as someone said. Even in the current system 2002 had a gap where Prost would have been.

When the initial entry list for this year was published it had 18 and 19 with a Honda TBA with it. So I believe you are right and numbers 3 and 4 would be empty this year with Brawn further down.

[Yannick]

Oops. Two errors! Sorry!

Thank you guys and gals for pointing out my two errors and correcting them.

[PayasYouDNPQ]

I did a run through over the years and the only trend that seemed to appear in the old system was that the major reshuffles happened every 5 years, in years ending with 9 and 4. There were lots of gaps in 78 and 83 but then no gaps (apart form 13) in 79 and 84 for example. So when I got to post-1995 I only did a major reshuffle in 1999 and 2004. None was needed this year.

As Brawn was considered a new entry and didn't get Honda's numbers I didn't give them Honda's numbers in my system. I got the following:

1-2 McLaren
5-6 Toyota (2004 reshuffle)
7-8 Williams
9-10 Renault
11-12 Red Bull
14-15 Force India
16-17 Toro Rosso (Minardi moved in 2004 reshuffle)
18-19 Ferrari (goes back to Benetton moving there in 1999 reshuffle)
20-21 BMW Sauber (199 reshuffle again)
22-23 Brawn (Honda would have been 3-4 via BAR)

As you can see the numbers for some teams are totally arbitrary. I don't think there would be any definitive list as it's been so long since the system changed.

[Captain Hammer]

I think the current system is far better. Not only does it reward teams that do well, it also gives an indication of who did well the previous season under that I call "The Rule of Thirteen": teams with a number less than thirteen did well the previous season, whilst teams with a number greater than it struggled.

[Waris]

I think the current system is far better. Not only does it reward teams that do well, it also gives an indication of who did well the previous season under that I call "The Rule of Thirteen": teams with a number less than thirteen did well the previous season, whilst teams with a number greater than it struggled.

It is indeed, and "The Rule of Thirteen" is intelligent, I hadn't thought of that. But nevertheless, talking about this old system is fun. I do think BAR were seen as a new team though, rather than as a continuation of Tyrrell. But it doesn't matter, because Brawn were also seen as a new team.

(Did anyone notice the letters "BAR" also happen to be the first three letters in "Brawn"?)

[Captain Hammer]

(Did anyone notice the letters "BAR" also happen to be the first three letters in "Brawn"?)

Actually, it goes WAY deeper than that:

- In 1970, two March entries were fielded by Ken Tyrell.
- Tyrell then went on to establish his own team.
- When Tyrell went bust, they were acquired by British American Racing.
- British American Racing beame Honda in turn.
- Ross Brawn acquired Honda.

This is important for two reasons:
1) Brawn became the first team to qualify one-two on debut since - wait for it - March in 1970.
2) And when March was a full-time effort, there was a young milling machine operator by the name of - drummroll, please! - Ross Brawn.

[Waris]

(Did anyone notice the letters "BAR" also happen to be the first three letters in "Brawn"?)

Actually, it goes WAY deeper than that:

- In 1970, two March entries were fielded by Ken Tyrell.
- Tyrell then went on to establish his own team.
- When Tyrell went bust, they were acquired by British American Racing.
- British American Racing beame Honda in turn.
- Ross Brawn acquired Honda.

This is important for two reasons:
1) Brawn became the first team to qualify one-two on debut since - wait for it - March in 1970.
2) And when March was a full-time effort, there was a young milling machine operator by the name of - drummroll, please! - Ross Brawn.

OMG!!!
Can you even call that a coincidence? It's almost unbelievable... It must be... A CONSPIRACY!

Edit: The conspiracy of course being, that Ross Brawn is the most wicked, intelligent, genious owner/pwner of Formula One, who was destined to eventually win a championship in the sport...

[Faustus]

(Did anyone notice the letters "BAR" also happen to be the first three letters in "Brawn"?)

Actually, it goes WAY deeper than that:

- In 1970, two March entries were fielded by Ken Tyrell.
- Tyrell then went on to establish his own team.
- When Tyrell went bust, they were acquired by British American Racing.
- British American Racing beame Honda in turn.
- Ross Brawn acquired Honda.

This is important for two reasons:
1) Brawn became the first team to qualify one-two on debut since - wait for it - March in 1970.
2) And when March was a full-time effort, there was a young milling machine operator by the name of - drummroll, please! - Ross Brawn.

OMG!!!
Can you even call that a coincidence? It's almost unbelievable... It must be... A CONSPIRACY!

Edit: The conspiracy of course being, that Ross Brawn is the most wicked, intelligent, genious owner/pwner of Formula One, who was destined to eventually win a championship in the sport...

I'll bet he started working on his nefarious plan when he was a milling machine operator at March in 1970!

[PayasYouDNPQ]

(Did anyone notice the letters "BAR" also happen to be the first three letters in "Brawn"?)

Actually, it goes WAY deeper than that:

- In 1970, two March entries were fielded by Ken Tyrell.
- Tyrell then went on to establish his own team.
- When Tyrell went bust, they were acquired by British American Racing.
- British American Racing beame Honda in turn.
- Ross Brawn acquired Honda.

This is important for two reasons:
1) Brawn became the first team to qualify one-two on debut since - wait for it - March in 1970.
2) And when March was a full-time effort, there was a young milling machine operator by the name of - drummroll, please! - Ross Brawn.

OMG!!!
Can you even call that a coincidence? It's almost unbelievable... It must be... A CONSPIRACY!

Edit: The conspiracy of course being, that Ross Brawn is the most wicked, intelligent, genious owner/pwner of Formula One, who was destined to eventually win a championship in the sport...

Even more than that, it could (the way things are going) be the last ever F1 championship. Meaning no one would ever be able to take it away from him.