Albon completes F1 entry list by confirming new number

Toro Rosso racer Albon will use the number 23, which he confirmed on Twitter was because it’s half of Valentino Rossi’s famous 46 that he raced with in karting.

Albon, 22, who finished third in F2 in 2018, will also use the Twitter hashtag #AA23. As a Rossi fan, Albon raced with the seven-time MotoGP champion’s #46 in karting, and won the 2006 British Super 1 title in Honda Cadets in a kart decorated in stickers of Rossi’s ‘The Doctor’ nickname and signage.

Confirmation of Albon’s number came late, having only been named as Toro Rosso’s second driver after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix season finale. He had to extricate himself from a contract to race for the Nissan e.dams team in Formula E this season.

He is still yet to sample an F1 car for the first time as he did not drive for Toro Rosso in the post-Abu Dhabi test, but was present with the team at the Yas Marina circuit. Albon has also been to Toro Rosso’s Faenza headquarters, having completed his first factory visit last week.

Last week, fellow rookie Lando Norris revealed that he too had considered using Rossi’s number, but that he feared he’d look like a copycat for doing so.

The full F1 2019 entry list is as follows…

No.	Driver	Company	Team	Chassis	Engine
44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Limited	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport	Mercedes	Mercedes
77	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Limited	Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport	Mercedes	Mercedes
5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari SPA	Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow	Ferrari	Ferrari
16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari SPA	Scuderia Ferrari Mission Winnow	Ferrari	Ferrari
10	Pierre Gasly	Red Bull Racing Limited	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	Honda
33	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing Limited	Aston Martin Red Bull Racing	Red Bull	Honda
3	Daniel Ricciardo	Renault Sport Racing Limited	Renault F1 Team	Renault	Renault
27	Nico Hulkenberg	Renault Sport Racing Limited	Renault F1 Team	Renault	Renault
8	Romain Grosjean	Haas Formula LLC	Rich Energy Haas F1 Team	Haas	Ferrari
20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas Formula LLC	Rich Energy Haas F1 Team	Haas	Ferrari
55	Carlos Sainz	McLaren Racing Limited	McLaren F1 Team	McLaren	Renault
4	Lando Norris	McLaren Racing Limited	McLaren F1 Team	McLaren	Renault
11	Sergio Perez	Racing Point UK Limited	Racing Point F1 Team	Racing Point	Mercedes
18	Lance Stroll	Racing Point UK Limited	Racing Point F1 Team	Racing Point	Mercedes
7	Kimi Raikkonen	Sauber Motorsport AG	Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team	Sauber	Ferrari
99	Antonio Giovinazzi	Sauber Motorsport AG	Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team	Sauber	Ferrari
26	Daniil Kvyat	Scuderia Toro Rosso SPA	Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Honda
23	Alexander Albon	Scuderia Toro Rosso SPA	Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Honda
63	George Russell	Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited	Williams Racing	Williams	Mercedes
88	Robert Kubica	Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited	Williams Racing	Williams	Mercedes