Lando Norris was back behind the wheel in Abu Dhabi, taking part in Formula 1’s post-season test, but the new champion must wait until he can run the #1 plate.
Norris sealed his first F1 title on Sunday at the Yas Marina Circuit, edging Max Verstappen by two points, with team-mate Oscar Piastri ending up 16 points down.
He said afterwards that he planned to swap his long-standing #4 for the #1 and hoped the change would appear on McLaren’s mule car for his half-day Pirelli test outing.
That wasn’t possible. Norris completed his morning run with his usual #4, while Piastri took over in the MCL39 in the afternoon.
The Briton marked his new status instead with a gold helmet, as regulations prevent him from switching numbers until the season is officially closed.
Despite the celebrations and branding used by F1, Norris does not become the official champion until the FIA’s prizegiving ceremony on Friday in Uzbekistan.
Regulations prevent changing numbers
The situation mirrors 2021, when Verstappen won the title in Abu Dhabi but returned for the post-race test still carrying #33 on his Red Bull.
Race control and timing systems require the correct, registered numbers at all events to ensure the standard identification rules remain in force.
There have been rare exceptions. Mercedes once obtained clearance for Lewis Hamilton to run #1 in FP1 in Abu Dhabi in 2018, though the car was still officially entered as #44.
Choosing to run #1 is optional. Verstappen used it throughout his title-winning streak, but Hamilton declined it during his championship years.
Verstappen is expected to switch to #3 next season following Daniel Ricciardo’s departure. For Norris, the motivation behind succeeding the Dutchman is clear.
“It’s there for a reason,” he told Sky Sports F1. “It’s there because you can go and try grab it, and you can work hard to try and get it.
“And, for one year, all of us as a team that gets to have a role in McLaren in my car, will get to wear that with pride.
“It’s all my mechanics, my engineers, everyone that’s part of McLaren gets to have that acknowledgement too.
“So it’s not for me, it’s for them as well. It’s their pride. It’s knowing they put a lot of work and effort into everything that they also get to go ‘we’re number one.'”
He added: “It’s not as cool when you wear number four.”
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