Lewis Hamilton says he ran with the number 1 during the opening practice session at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as a thank you to his Mercedes team.
Mercedes has won the last five Drivers’ title but its cars have never sported the number 1.
Hamilton, as defending champion in 2015, 2016 and 2018, opted to retain the use of number 44, under the system introduced in 2014, while Nico Rosberg exited the sport as champion.
Previously the reigning champion was mandated to use number 1 – but Mercedes was denied this accolade in 2010 as Jenson Button, having won the crown with Brawn, switched across to McLaren.
Hamilton sported the number 1 on the nosecone of his W09 during the opening practice session at the Yas Marina Circuit, though was still entered as 44, with that number remaining on the engine cover.
Hamilton reverted to 44 for the second practice session beneath the lights at the venue.
“I personally don’t like it,” he said of using number 1. “I don’t like it at all.
“The reason I did it is I’ve been here for six years and I remember the team had number 1 when Jenson won the world title and he moved to McLaren and brought the number 1 with him.
“So since we’ve been World Champions we’ve never had 1 on the car.
“I remember the mechanics and engineers asking me at one stage if id ever do it, I thought it’d be cool to have it on the car for one session, so at least they’ll have a picture somewhere [and] they can be proud that we’re number 1.
“44 is my special number, everyone in the team, on my car, they’re like… they’re travelling and see a bus [with] number 44, flight number 44, seat number 44 and it’s great and it’s becoming a part of their life as it’s exactly how it is for me.
“But it was just for one session and it doesn’t really mean anything to me.”
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