Quote Originally Posted by inimitablestoo View Post
When the system changed this year to "think of a number" the range given was 1 to 99. Until then, had the World Champion not taken part, presumably the number 0 would have been used again - although this was a Max-era rule and it may have had something to do with a spat with Williams, so maybe not
It wasn't just a spat, the number 1 is a symbolic nod to the current World Champion; if he retires after winning, it is inappropriate to assign another to use it. Customarily the WC drivers team received numbers 1 and 2 next season, hence the rule to use 0 and 2. With Williams it happened 2 years in a row with Mansell and Prost retiring (temporarily for Mansell) It is quite likely to come up again, numbers 2 and 3 could be used, but I'm wondering does F1 have a solid plan.