Is the number 13 banned in F1?
The number is seen as a cursed number at the pinnacle of motor racing.
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F1 has been around since the 1950s and, over the years, has produced some magical moments that are, to date, very much fresh in the fans’ memories. F1 is considered the pinnacle of motor racing and has now and then proved why that is the case. While many things have contributed to the mammoth success of the sport, the biggest contribution toward it has been of the drivers.
F1 drivers are seen as the best drivers across all the motorsports categories, and some of them have played a major role in making certain car numbers incredibly famous. For example, the number 7 has been made world-renowned by the former F1 World Champion, Kimi Raikkonen; similarly, the number 44 has received global recognition because of the efforts of Lewis Hamilton.
In the modern era, each F1 driver has a certain number they like to race with, but there is still one particular number that almost all drivers tend to shy away from. The number 13 is seen as a cursed number at the pinnacle of motor racing, and there are superstitious reasons behind it. In the early 1920s, drivers used to drive with the number 13 on their cars, but after a couple of fatal accidents within a short period, everyone decided to shy away from it.
Drivers going by the name of Paul Torchy and Giulio Masetti lost their lives while racing with the number, and since then, there haven’t been many drivers who have dared to run with the accursed number at the back and front of their cars. The only driver to have entered an F1 World Championship with 13 on his car was former Mexican racer Moises Solana, whose BRM carried the number in his home race in 1963.
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F1 drivers don’t prefer to run with the unlucky 13 during F1 races
F1 has evolved massively in the last decade and is one of the most technologically advanced sports in the World. There are not many other racing categories that make use of sophisticated technology to get the jump on the various rivals. While the sport and the driving styles have massively changed, superstition is still very much prominent in the sport.
Almost all F1 drivers have weird superstitions, but one superstition that all the drivers have in common is that everyone prefers to stay away from the number 13. Being prolific drivers who drive their cars at the limit in every race, they are aware of the history surrounding the number 13 and thus try to stay away from it as much as possible.
No matter how much the pinnacle of motor racing evolves regarding driver safety, superstitions will always be a part of the sport, no matter what. Moreover, the drivers are the ones who risk their lives every time they go out on the various F1 tracks, and thus they should have the right to do things in their way, be it regarding car number on any other thing.
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Rishabh Negi
(3244 Articles Published)