Nicholas Latifi Chooses Same Racing Number As Former Champion Nico Rosberg

Nicholas Latifi, the rookie for Williams in the 2020 F1 championship, has decided to go with number six as his racing number.

It was a term popularized by Hip Hop musician, Drake. Latifi previously had #40 as his race number during the practice sessions for William in the previous season.

It is worth mentioning as well; the six racing number was previously donned by former Formula 1 champion, Nico Rosberg when he raced for Mercedes.

Rosberg retired from F1 after winning the championship, but his number was not available for the next two seasons as per the sporting regulations.

The rules state a driver’s career in the sport is deemed to be concluded if he does not race for two consecutive championship seasons.

The decision by Latifi to use the number six did not have anything to do with the former champion.

Latifi claimed on a video shared on Twitter he is sure everyone is wondering what number he has decided to choose for the upcoming Formula 1 season.

He continued that he decided to go with number six because he is from Toronto. The city is known as the six should one be from there; the area code for the phone number is either 416 or 467.

The 24-year-old rookie is slotted to race against George Russell this year as a replacement for Robert Kubica. He also finished second in the Formula 2 championship in 2019.

Latifi was not the only one yet to pick a racing number for the upcoming season, considering returnee Esteban Ocon is going to continue with 31 for Renault to replace Nico Hulkenberg.

Latifi previously raced with the number six during the 2016 GP2 campaign and again in 2018 and 2019, so he’s fixation of the racing number is understandable.

He stated that it happened to be the number he had used for three out of four seasons in Formula 2.

It was something more than a coincidence as DAMS was given numbers 5 and 6 because of the finishing positions in the championship. As soon as the numbers were deemed available, he knew which ones he wanted to proceed with.

Latifi is the only rookie to join Formula 1 this season though great results are expected out of him and for the team, which has had a tough go during the 2018 and 2019 season points-wise.