FIA releases 2014 entry list and car numbers
The FIA's official entry list for the 2014 F1 world championship has been issued, which also contains confirmation of the permanent car numbers that each of the drivers have been awarded under the new regulations.
As expected, Sebastian Vettel will keep the number 1 on his car in 2014 as reigning world champion, the only number that will not be retained by a driver for their entire Grand Prix career in future.
Should he ever start a season after losing the title, then the German ace has opted for #5 as his permanent designation. His Red Bull racing team mate Daniel Ricciardo has announced via Twitter on Friday morning that he had opted for #3 on his car.
Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes will be adored with the number 44, while Nico Rosberg has claimed #6 which is the number his father Keke carried to the 1982 world title. Fernando Alonso has succeeded in acquiring his lucky number 14 and Kimi Raikkonen has picked up #7.
Lotus drivers Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado acquire #8 and #13 respectively, the Venezuelan clearly not superstitious with his choice. Notably, the Lotus entry in the FIA's list has the company name 'Lotus Renault F1 Ltd' marked as 'to be confirmed'. Lotus announced earlier this week they will not be running at the upcoming Jerez test.
McLaren pair Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen had already revealed that they would be racing with the numbers #22 and #20, while Nico Hulkenberg picks up #27 for his Force India and new team mate Sergio Perez takes #11. Adrian Sutil goes to the top of the available range with #99 for his Sauber, compared with Esteban Gutierrez who turns #21 with his choice.
Jean-Eric Vergne and Toro Rosso new boy Daniil Kvyat claim the nicely consecutive #25 and #26, with Felipe Massa taking #19 with his move to Williams alongside Valtteri Bottas, who as expected will take the #77 designation.
The final confirmed number is that of Jules Bianchi, who doesn't get any of his original thee choices (#7, #27 or #77) and instead had to accept #17. His Marussia team mate - listed as Max Chilton, although that has yet to be officially announced by the team - has yet to select a number, while the team's registered company name (Manor Grand Prix Racing Ltd.) is marked as subject to confirmation in a similar fashion to that of Lotus.
Neither Caterham driver has yet been confirmed, or therefore selected a car number.
Full entry list - 2014
Infiniti Red Bull Racing#1 (#5) Sebastian Vettel (Germany)#3 Daniel Ricciardo (Australia)
Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One#44 Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain)#6 Nico Rosberg (Germany)
Scuderia Ferrari#14 Fernando Alonso (Spain)#7 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland)
Lotus F1 Team#8 Romain Grosjean (France)#13 Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela)
McLaren Mercedes#22 Jenson Button (Great Britain)#20 Kevin Magnussen (Denmark)
Sahara Force India F1 Team#27 Nico Hulkenberg (Germany)#11 Sergio Perez (Mexico)
Sauber F1 Team#99 Adrian Sutil (Germany)#21 Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico)
Scuderia Toro Rosso#25 Jean-Eric Vergne (France)#26 Daniil Kvyat (Russia)
Williams Team F1#19 Felipe Massa (Brazil)#77 Valtteri Bottas (Finland)
Marussia F1 Team#17 Jules Bianchi (France)#TBA Max Chilton (Great Britain)
Caterham F1 Team#TBA To be announced (TBA)#TBA To be announced (TBA)
