Why is number 17 retired in F1?
Number 17 is retired in memory of Jules Bianchi. The French driver raced number 17 in 2014, suffered severe head injuries in a crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix, and died in July 2015. Days later the FIA announced that 17 would no longer be used in Formula 1, and no driver has raced it since.
The number 17 belonged to Jules Bianchi
Jules Bianchi was a French driver and Ferrari Academy member who raced for the small Marussia team, carrying number 17 in 2014 after his preferred numbers were already taken.[1] He was widely seen as a future Ferrari driver and had scored Marussia's only championship points, at the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix.[3]
The 2014 Japanese Grand Prix
In wet, fading light at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, Bianchi went off the track at a corner where a recovery vehicle was attending an earlier crash, and struck it, suffering severe head injuries.[1] He never regained consciousness and died on 17 July 2015, the first Formula 1 driver to die from injuries sustained on a Grand Prix weekend since Ayrton Senna in 1994.[2]
The FIA retires the number
On 20 July 2015, days after his death, the FIA announced that car number 17 would no longer be used in the Formula 1 World Championship, in Bianchi's honour.[1] It remains the only permanently retired number in the sport, and no driver has carried 17 since.[2]
:::analysis Retiring a number is the sport's quietest and most lasting tribute. Where a minute's silence ends, an empty number stays on every entry list, a standing reminder of a driver the paddock had expected to one day see in Ferrari red.
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Related reading
- [1]Number 17 to be retired in Bianchi's honour (Formula1.com) (formula1). Accessed 2026-06-19.
- [2]FIA retires Jules Bianchi's race number (ESPN) (espn). Accessed 2026-06-19.
- [3]List of Formula One driver numbers (Wikipedia) (wikipedia-en). Accessed 2026-06-19.