Lewis Hamilton has dominated Formula 1 for much of the last decade. Interestingly, he has been racing with the number 44 on his car since the beginning of the 2014 season and hasn’t changed it since. Drivers can opt for number one on their car when they win the championship.

During his interview with Gayle King, the Mercedes driver revealed why he races with the number 44 on his car. He also revealed the reason why he does not use number one on his car even if he is the best on the grid.

“What happens when you get to Formula 1 when I joined, the team would have basically whoever won the championship, the team would get one and two and second teams three and four. So you’d inherit a number.

But in 2014 they changed the rules, and they said you have to have one number for the rest of your life. My team will like to choose between one and 7 and I was like gonna be any number. I gotta have number 44. That’s where it all started. On my car, I should have number 1 on my car right now but number 44 is the number. I don’t need to have number 1 on it to be number 1,” said Hamilton.

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Since he started racing with the number 44 on his car, Hamilton has won 6 World Championships in 8 seasons. He currently sits at 7 World Championships, tied with the great Michael Schumacher.

Lewis Hamilton comments on being compared to Michael Schumacher

The Mercedes driver revealed that it was surreal that his name was being taken in the same sentence as the former Ferrari driver. He has broken almost every single record and equaled the world title feat.

“It’s very, very surreal still to this day to have my name brought up in the same sentence as his. That’s a real honor and something my family are very, very proud of,” said the Mercedes driver.

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Hamilton richly deserves his spot in the sport alongside Schumacher. He also proves that you don’t need number one on your car to prove that you are the number one driver. It is quite interesting that he continues to race with number 44 to this day.