This weekend, F1 returns to the British Silverstone circuit, back to the place where the Formula One racing engine first roared. F1 originated in Silverstone. From its development in 1950 to the present, everything from the design of F1 racing cars to the specific wording of F1 c

This weekend, F1 returns to the British Silverstone Circuit, back to the place where the Formula One racing engine first roared. F1 originated from Silverstone . Since its development in 1950, everything from the design of F1 racing to the specific wording of F1 competition rules has undergone earth-shaking changes. Today I am taking the opportunity of F1 to "go home" to talk about a very "tiny" but obvious detail change - the car number.

Like many other sports, F1 drivers also like to pick their own "lucky number" for the car. They have their own reasons and stories behind their choice of car number.

Seven-time world champion Hamilton chose the number 44 because when he first participated in the go-kart competition, he had no idea about the number selection, so in desperation he chose the last two digits of his father's car license plate: 44. In his later career, the number 44 has always brought good luck to Hamilton and witnessed Hamilton achieve seven championships.

Ferrari driver Leclerc 's first "number wish" he wanted to fill in was his lucky number 7, but unfortunately the number 7 has been used by Raikkonen. So Leclerc did a simple math problem: 7=1+6, hence his current number 16.

The number 5 of four-time world champion Vettel comes from the initials "V" (Vettel) of his English name. V represents 5 in Roman numerals , so Vettel chose the number 5.

Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu will officially participate in the F1 race for the first time this year. His number is No. 24. Zhou Guanyu said that the number 24 comes from his lifelong idol-the late basketball superstar Kobe Bryant.

The defending championship Verstappen will drive the No. 1 car in 2022, but his previous number was No. 33. It is understood that Verstappen's lucky number is 3, but number 3 has been chosen by Ricardo . So Verstappen didn't stop doing anything and directly reported a number 33, with the intention of being "double lucky".

F1 riders each have their own stories about number selection. However, in the early days of F1, the racing number was not freely chosen by the drivers. The delineation of F1 racing numbers has mainly undergone four reforms.

1950-1973 Each race has a different number.

In the early stages of the F1 race, the racing numbers were very loosely defined. The car numbers used by drivers in each race are randomly determined by the organizing committee of each track. Just like when we go to the kart field now, the racing number we meet every time can only be determined by fate.

1974-1995 Team numbers are fixed.

Starting from 1974, F1 stipulated that each team's two cars have fixed numbers, and the order of the numbers is determined based on the ranking of the 1973 team standings. For example, Lotus, the 1973 constructors' championship team, had two numbers, No. 1 and No. 2, in the 1974 F1 race, and so on.

However, it should be noted that the championship team of the previous year will use No. 1 and No. 2 in the next year's competition; for example, the 1974 team championship McLaren will use the original Lotus team in 1975. Nos. 1 and 2, while Lotus replaced McLaren's original numbers 5 and 6. For non-championship teams, their numbers will always be based on the results and rankings in 1973. has been used.

In addition, if a team withdraws from the competition, its number can be chosen by the newly added team or the existing team.

1996-2013 Annual number results are determined

In 1996, F1 adjusted the number usage rules again. The driver's championship of the previous year will use the number 1 in the next year's competition, and his teammates will use the number 2. The numbers of other drivers will be adjusted year by year based on the ranking of the team's results in the previous year. Number delineation rules like

mean that the driver's number completely reflects the team's performance - the smaller the number, the better the performance; the larger the number, the lower the performance ranking.

The driver number has not changed since 2014.

The rule that the driver number for the new season is determined by the results of the previous year was changed at the end of 2014.Starting in 2014, F1 has adopted a fixed number method for drivers - that is, each driver uses a fixed number throughout his career; unless the driver misses two consecutive seasons, his number will no longer be retained. That year, each driver could propose 3 desired numbers, and then FIA would aggregate the "number wishes" submitted by all drivers and coordinate the planning of each driver's number.

It should be noted that the annual driver championship will be eligible to choose No. 1, but he can also continue to use the original number; for example, Hamilton continues to use No. 44 after winning the annual championship, while Vettel and Weiss Tappan switched to No. 1 the next season after winning the driver's championship.

Under the current numbering rules, riders are free to choose their own numbers among the unoccupied or reserved numbers 1-99, except for number 17. Because in 2014, the then No. 17 driver Bianchi unfortunately passed away in a serious accident at the Suzuka Circuit, and his No. 17 was also permanently retained to express people's memory of him.

As of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, "number 8" is the most used number - appearing 988 times in 1,057 F1 races. However, the next time we see No. 8 will not be until 2023 at the earliest, because the current No. 8 is still reserved by the French driver Grosjean who has left F1; he used No. 8 in the 2020 season, and this number is required according to the rules. Freeze” for two seasons.

Meet Silverstone again

The 2022 British Grand Prix has kicked off at the Silverstone circuit , and a new contest is taking place. In the two practice sessions on Friday local time, the major teams had both good and bad times.

Mercedes-Benz benefited from the new upgrades brought at Silverstone this week, and the results seem to be the same as those at the Spanish Grand Prix. In Friday's second practice, Hamilton was 30.163 seconds behind Sainz, ranking second.

At the Silverstone track, which is a high-speed and relatively flat track surface, the " dolphin jumping " problem that the Mercedes-Benz W13 has struggled with for a long time has basically disappeared in other parts of the track, except for appearing in high-speed corners. Although the results of Mercedes-Benz's second practice may not be truly representative, Hamilton said that the upgrade of the W13 station means that Mercedes-Benz has at least "taken a step forward."

Ferrari driver Leclerc was only fifth in Friday's second practice. He said that when using soft tires, some minor problems with the power unit made the car difficult to drive, but overall the F1-75 felt on the right track at Silverstone. In the three practice sessions that just ended, Leclerc also rose to third place.

The Red Bull RB-18 racing car brought significant upgrades at Silverstone, and the car's bonnet changed significantly. However, in the first two practice sessions, the results of Red Bull were not satisfactory, and Verstappen only ranked fourth in the second practice. Previously, Red Bull spent more time repairing the floor of Verstappen's car, which resulted in insufficient test mileage. This affected Red Bull's practice results to a certain extent. Team consultant Dr. Marko once bluntly stated that the adjustment direction of RB-18 was wrong. , especially in low-speed corners, the grip is obviously insufficient. However, in the third practice session on Saturday, Verstappen found his rhythm and teammate Perez took the top two places.

Chinese driver Zhou Guanyu’s rankings in the three practice sessions were 6th in the first practice, 15th in the second practice, and 13th in the third practice. Zhou Guanyu once again scored points in the last race of the Canadian Grand Prix. I hope he can continue to achieve good results this week at the Silverstone track where he has great memories.

live broadcast arrangement

Guangdong Sports Channel will bring you a live broadcast of the 2022 British Grand Prix qualifying at 22:00 later tonight. In this week's F1 broadcast, the "pedal perspective shot" that has been absent for 22 years will also reappear, with the purpose of showing the driver's superb foot control movements.

In the pedal perspective lens mounted on Norris Racing, Norris controls the brake with his left foot and the accelerator with his right foot. Although ordinary car fans may think that the operation in the video is nothing new, in fact it represents the super-precise driving skills of top track racers.

The accelerator pedal under Norris's right foot controls a terrifying power of close to 1,000 horsepower. He must move so accurately and delicately that he looks so "quiet" on the surface, because a slightly rough movement will cause Terrible racing car out of control. As for the brake pedal under his left foot, Norris exploded instantly during heavy braking and quickly applied more than 100KG of force to the brake pedal (marked in yellow in the picture below). For ordinary people, this is indeed a driving action that is unimaginable and difficult to achieve.

2022 F1 World Formula One Racing Championship British Grand Prix

July 2nd 22:00 live broadcast qualifying

2022 FE World Electric Formula Racing Championship

(Photo source: Formula1.com, Motorsport.com, F1brief, Chain Bear, The-Race.com, Autosport.com, Brembo)