Toro Rosso rookie Alexander Albon is to sport 23 as his permanent number in Formula 1.
Under a revised system introduced in 2014 each driver selects a number between 2 and 99 to carry throughout their career in the championship.
Number 1 is reserved for the reigning World Champion, should they wish to take it, while 17 was retired from use in the wake of Jules Bianchi’s death.
Last month’s entry list confirmed the numbers of several 2019 newcomers or returnees.
McLaren rookie Lando Norris was down as 4, Williams pair George Russell and Robert Kubica chose 63 and 88 respectively, while Sauber’s Antonio Giovinazzi plumped for 99.
Albon, having only been signed by Toro Rosso a few days before the entry list was issued, did not have a number adjacent to his name.
It has now been confirmed that Albon will use 23.
The number has not been used by a race driver since the new-for-2014 system was introduced, though has been used as a test number by Mercedes, with Pascal Wehrlein running the number during an in-season test for the manufacturer in 2015.
Albon graduates to Formula 1 with Toro Rosso after placing third in this year’s Formula 2 championship, behind Russell and Norris, with four wins to his name.
He will partner the returning Daniil Kvyat at Toro Rosso.
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