Palmer confirms permanent F1 number

Jolyon Palmer took to his social media channels to confirm that he will use 30 as his permanent racing number over his entire Formula One career.

The Briton, who is preparing to make his grand prix debut with Renault in 2016, already sported #30 during the many FP1 and testing outings he enjoyed last season as Lotus reserve driver.

Before the start of the 2014 campaign, pilots were asked to pick a permanent number between 2 and 99, a move aimed at making them more recognisable and marketable. Only the reigning world champion may decide to race with #1, something Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton has declined to do over the past two years.

However, the FIA allocates numbers to teams for their test and reserve drivers. While Palmer could have chosen to pick another number ahead of his maiden season, he elected to keep the one he had been given in 2015.

Last year’ regulations also brought some clarification by stating that racing numbers would be locked for two years after a driver completed his most recent race.

In the wake of Jules Bianchi’s death, F1’s governing body quickly moved to retire the late Frenchman’s #17 racing number.

Palmer was promoted to a full-time role at Enstone last October, some two months before Renault finalised its takeover of Lotus. Although rumours about the French manufacturer’s line-up have been swirling since then, the 25-year-old is set to be confirmed at Renault at its Wednesday 3 February media launch.

With Manor still yet to announce its driver pairing, Palmer remains the only F1 rookie on the 2016 grid so far.

Here are all racing numbers:

Mercedes
Lewis Hamilton – 44
Nico Rosberg – 6

Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel – 5
Kimi Raikkonen – 7

Williams-Mercedes
Valtteri Bottas – 77
Felipe Massa – 19

Red Bull TAG-Heuer
Daniel Ricciardo – 3
Daniil Kvyat – 26

Force India-Mercedes
Nico Hulkenberg – 27
Sergio Perez – 11

Renault
Pastor Maldonado – 13 or Kevin Magnussen – 20
Jolyon Palmer – 30

Toro Rosso
Max Verstappen – 33
Carlos Sainz – 55

Sauber
Marcus Ericsson – 9
Felipe Nasr – 12

McLaren-Honda
Fernando Alonso – 14
Jenson Button – 22

Manor
TBC
TBC

Haas F1 Team
Romain Grosjean – 8
Esteban Gutierrez – 21

Scene at the Pirelli wet tyre test