Kimi Antonelli is keeping number 12 for 2027 despite clinching his first world championship in Mexico. The Mercedes driver becomes the youngest champion in F1 history, dethroning Sebastian Vettel, but won't follow Max Verstappen and Lando Norris in claiming the number 1 for next season.
The choice is personal. Twelve pays tribute to Ayrton Senna and was Antonelli's first number in Formula 4. He's also the first driver since Senna in 1988 to win a title carrying number 12. Beyond sentiment, Antonelli cited humility — keeping the same number forces him to rebuild from scratch — and superstition. "Number one has never been a good number for me," he said. "Whenever I put it on, it went extremely badly."
That anxiety nearly derailed him in Mexico, where premature congratulations made him fear jinxing the title. Now it's official, and 12 stays through his defense.
Read the full story at Motorsport.com
