Could Lewis Hamilton ditch iconic 44? Ferrari star among F1 drivers given permission to change driver number

A change has been made to the F1 rules following the final meeting in 2025 of the Formula 1 Commission at the FIA’s offices in London this week.

The F1 Commission meets four times a year to discuss a range of matters regarding the sport, with the November meeting chaired by FIA single seater director Nikolas Tombazis and Formula One Management President and CEO Stefano Domenicali.

In the past, the F1 Commission has yielded data on the growth of the sport, including data that the fan base has grown to 827million and the influx of younger fans to the sport.

Following the conclusion of the November meeting, it was confirmed that a change will be made to driver numbers from the 2026 season onwards, which means the likes of Lewis Hamilton could abandon the number 44, should he choose to do so of course.

Hamilton has won seven world titles that has allowed him to run No 1 for the following season. However unlike current title holder Max Verstappen Hamilton has always ran the No 44 instead of No 1 when given the choice and that indicates his attachment to 44.

Why does Lewis Hamilton have the number 44?

Lewis Hamilton has confirmed his number comes from his very early karting days, and are taken from his father's vehicle at the time.

“When I was eight, we got a really old go-kart and it was owned by, like, five or six different families," Hamilton said.

"It was from the back of the newspaper. My dad got this kart, rebuilt it and we had to enter our first race and my dad didn’t know what number to use. And on the number plate of his car was F44.

2026: A new F1 era

However, should a driver not wish to continue with their current number they can now choose to change it. The FIA confirmed: “Changes to the regulation on permanent competition numbers for drivers, introduced for the 2014 season, were discussed.

“It was agreed that a proposal for drivers to change their numbers during their career would be permitted.”

Alongside these changes to F1 driver numbers, the Commission also discussed the liveries of the cars in 2026 in a bid to limit the use of carbon fibre surfaces by teams - or as we like to call it, when F1 teams are really boring and have loads of black on their livery (Haas we’re looking at you).

F1 teams usually strip back the bodywork to carbon fibre to save on weight; but the tactic has led to complaints in some seasons that cars on the grid look the same and do not stand out enough.

Now representatives at the F1 Commission have agreed that a minimum of 55 per cent of surface area (when viewed from the side and above) must be covered by painted or stickered liveries as opposed to bare carbon fibre surfaces, in an effort to prevent this in 2026.

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