Daniel Ricciardo has given Max Verstappen permission to make use of his previous racing quantity from the 2026 F1 season.
In line with an announcement posted on the four-time world champion’s official web site, Verstappen requested former Pink Bull teammate Ricciardo for permission to put on No. 3, and the Australian agreed.
Ricciardo wore the quantity 3 from 2014 till his final F1 race, the 2024 Singapore Grand Prix.
F1 guidelines state {that a} quantity stays assigned to a driver till they’re out of motion for 2 seasons.
This was not the case for Ricciardo, who introduced his retirement from motorsport earlier this 12 months, however after discussions with Verstappen he was allowed to make use of his previous racing quantity at an early stage.
Verstappen has swapped his earlier jersey quantity 33 and revealed that 3 is his favourite quantity.
In an interview with Dutch broadcaster Viaplay, Verstappen mentioned: “It will not be quantity 33. My favourite quantity has all the time been quantity 3, other than number one. Now that I can change it, it will likely be quantity 3.”
“Quantity 33 was all the time wonderful, however I choose one 3 to 2 3s. I’ve all the time mentioned it represents double luck, however I’ve already been fortunate in F1.”
The Dutchman will likely be operating his number one automotive from 2022 because of his fourth consecutive World Championship win.
McLaren’s Lando Norris has ended Verstappen’s four-year reign on the high of F1, confirming he’ll transfer to primary in 2026.
Since new guidelines had been launched in F1, Lewis Hamilton has develop into the one world champion to refuse to put on the #1 quantity on his automotive.
The seven-time world champion continued to put on the quantity 44 on his automotive all through his six title-winning campaigns with Mercedes.
