Nicholas Latifi has confirmed his race number for the 2020 F1 season when he makes his debut with ROKiT Williams Racing.
Latifi will be using #6 for his debut F1 season in 2020 with Williams, the number which was last used in 2016 by world champion, Nico Rosberg. For the Friday sessions and also other test runs, the Canadian was using #40, which was the random number given by the FIA.
However, Latifi has opted to bring back #6 in F1 after three years, which is fine by the regulations. The rule states that if the particular race number is not in use for two consecutive seasons, any driver after that can apply to use it.
Latifi revealed the reason for using #6 – which is, of course, not related to Rosberg. “As we gear up for the season ahead, it’s time to reveal my Formula 1 race number for 2020. The one I’ve chosen is… 6,” he wrote, upon the announcement.
“The main reason is that 6 is so closely linked to Toronto. It’s where I’m from, where I was raised, and the city I’m proud to be representing. Toronto is widely referred to as ‘The 6’, which is partly down to Drake, who’s also from Toronto.
“He mentions the name in one of his early songs, and one of his albums was originally called ‘Views from the 6’. Other 6 links are that Toronto was one divided into six districts, and that the two telephone area codes for Toronto start or finish with a six.
“For all these reasons the name has just stuck; anyone who’s from North America knows what ‘The 6’ is – especially if they listen to Drake. It also happens to be the number I used for three out of my four seasons in Formula 2.
“Although that was more by chance, as DAMS was given 5 and 6 because of the finishing positions in the championship. But as soon as we had those numbers, I knew immediately which one I wanted.”
This will be a change for Williams, which had #88 for Robert Kubica, while George Russell has #63. With the return of #6, it completes a sequence of #3 to #8 in F1 – which is used in order by Daniel Ricciardo, Lando Norris, Sebastian Vettel, Latifi, Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.
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