Jak Crawford is assigned number 11 still despite Sergio being back
Leo Fornaroli is assigned number 1 which for obvious reasons needs to be changed
These are the numbers they get in race 1 of a brand new myteam save so obviously Leo has not won the championship
This is still a major issue. Goethe uses 5 in the 2026 DLC despite it being taken. Fornaroli still uses 1 etc etc. if EA are just going to ignore this until the next game comes out it’s a major major problem and ridiculous. This is a minor code error and could easily be fixed but they seem to have taken no notice
F1 and F2 are separate competitions. In F2, numbers are assigned automatically based on the team's finishing position in the previous season; the top team from the prior year gets numbers 1 and 2 for the next, and so on. Furthermore, an F2 driver moving up to F1 cannot carry their F2 number over to F1. Upon signing an F1 contract, they choose a number that is available and not "frozen" (a number can be frozen for two years after a driver leaves F1, in case they return).
The game should account for this; when a driver from the F2 pool joins an F1 team, the game should automatically assign them the first available number (excluding number 1, of course, even if it is free). This is a simple algorithm that should work within the game and shouldn't be difficult to implement.
So, the F1 25/26 game is licensed to let a driver switch teams during a career, BUT it doesn't have the license to let them change their number. Is that right? So, could this lead to duplicate numbers? Because that’s what the licensing agreement between EA and FIA F1 stipulates, right?
The licensing agreement can be whatever the teams, the FOM and EA agree on. For a long while they didn't even allow driver transfers to happen in game. Then Liberty Media took over and started relaxing the rules a bit.
As you pointed out this wouldn't be a difficult change to make, just add some sort of number randomizer for all F2 drivers at the start of the career. But they haven't done that despite this "issue" being present for years.
That would seem to indicate that they are limited by the license and don't really have a choice in the matter because as much as people want to accuse them of being lazy, they've fixed plenty of other things that were far more complicated.
So, EA should NEGOTIATE that possibility in the licensing agreement to avoid such absurdities, and only then incorporate it into the game. In other words, the problem lies in the LICENSE and can be resolved. All it takes is logical argumentation and commitment from EA
When I was playing the F1 2025 career mode, Paul Aron joined Racing Bulls in the second season, replacing Hadjar (who used number 6). Aron had used number 17 in F2 2024. However, upon joining Racing Bulls, he was assigned number 8, even though number 17 was available. How can this be explained? It turns out the regulations don't forbid it.
Here is a photo. Zoom in and you'll see him on the Halo.
17 is not available in F1 because it was retired in honor of Jules Bianchi who lost his life as a result of a crash during the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. Presumably this unique situation was discussed and giving Aron #8 was the decision.
So, EA should NEGOTIATE that possibility in the licensing agreement to avoid such absurdities, and only then incorporate it into the game.
It's easy to say "just negotiate it" but what if it's not something the FOM considers negotiable? Or how much should they be willing to give up trying to make it negotiable?
You have to give it a try! If you get a refusal, use some arguments. If that doesn't work either, try again later. After all, it’s EA, FOM, and the FIA that make money from F1 game customers. A dissatisfied customer won't buy the game... The customer pays, so the customer has the right to make demands.
You are making some faulty assumptions here.
You assume there is a right way and wrong way to number the drivers. While you may personally find the duplicate numbers annoying, I'm sure there are plenty of people who prefer this to a scenario where the drivers are using incorrect numbers. I guarantee you that if they switched it and assigned different numbers to the F2 drivers who shared a number with an F1 driver, then people would come here and make bug reports about how their favorite F2 driver doesn't use their real world number.
So essentially all it's doing is swapping out one problem for another and for all we know changing it could result in more dissatisfied customers then the current system. You are a paying customer and that gives you a right to be dissatisfied and have your complaints heard but that doesn't give you the right to make demands if it comes at the cost of another player's experience.
The real solution would be for them to include an in-game editor so people could change the numbers how they like, but for whatever reason they have declined to add one despite several requests over the years.
