Been buggin me for ages..... I have wondered for a long time now why Lewis Hamilton (and Mclaren) had their car numbers changed in 2007 from 1 and 2 (was supposed to go to 3 and 4 i think) and somehow ended up with 22 and 23 ? I have the model cars from both years in my room and until i find out why, it will always play on my mind haha Can anyone enlighten me on this ?
Yes, McLaren were stripped of all their points but the drivers weren't, so it does seem a bit odd, but the team points goes towards garage position in the pit lane which is why they were numbered last giving them the smallest and last garage on the pit lane. The number one garage is the first and is supposed to be an advantage, but I'm not sure about this, surely it would be just as advantageous to have the last garage as a driver can nail it out of the pit lane after a stop. Maybe this opens up a completely different discussion, I'm not sure. Also if lewis had have won the WDC that year would he have been allowed to take the number one plate as would have been his right? Some say that Mosley fixed that years results but I'm not sure about that
Have a read of this: http://www.mat.uc.pt/~rps/f1/numbers.html It contains some well-informed comment about the history of number assignment in F1, which has not always been consistent; nor indeed, as it is now; and it may help you discover the real answer to your question about Hamilton, had he been crowned Champion whilst driving for what was to become a disqualified team: a bizarre circumstance without precedent.
If Alonso had won the c'ship for mclaren that year would they still have numbers 22 and 23 when he left for renault? Actually would he have even left McLaren if he had won the championship that year? Cue philosophical pondering expression.
Yes, a bit like when Button moved from Brawn to Mclaren, Button and Hamilton got 1 and 2 because Button won the WDC and Schumacher and Rosberg got 3 and 4 because of Brawn/Mercedes' WCC position.
Why did Schumacher get 3 instead of Rosberg? Rosberg finished higher in the previous championship (Schumacher wasn't around then). Is it because Schumacher finished higher in his last year (2006) than Rosberg did in '09? Cue continued philosophical pondering expression.
Schumacher made Ross Brawn give him the 3 instead of the 4 which he was originally allocated. The reason Schumacher gave was because he dislikes even numbers, but really he just wanted the lower number.
Ah, thank you! Wow, way to be picky about your numbers Michael. he's probably just not used to an even number on his cars. It's very much foreign territory for him. Cue enlightened expression
