Max Verstappen will finally race a Formula 1 season with his favorite number on the nose of his car in 2026.
The Red Bull star confirmed that he will switch to No. 3 next season after former teammate Daniel Ricciardo gave him permission.
Ricciardo had the No. 3 when Verstappen joined the F1 grid with Toro Rossi in 2015, so the Dutchman went with No. 33. The two were also teammates with Red Bull from 2016-18. Verstappen won his first world title in 2021 and accepted the traditional honor of driving with the No. 1.
He retained No. 1 for four years until McLaren’s Lando Norris won this year’s title by just two points. That left Verstappen to make another number switch.
Rules state that a number must be out of F1 for two years before another driver can request it. Ricciardo, who retired after most recently racing for Red Bull’s sister team RB in 2024, granted Verstappen his permission to use No. 3.
“My favorite number has always been 3, apart from No. 1. We can now swap, so it’ll be No. 3,” Verstappen told Viaplay, via Formula1.com. “No. 33 was always fine, but I just like one 3 better than two. I always said it represented double luck, but I’ve already had my luck in Formula 1.”
Locked in for 2026. pic.twitter.com/VGWFFpQEpj
— Max Verstappen (@VerstappenCOM) December 18, 2025
The only drivers to win a world championship racing with the No. 3 have been Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 and Michael Schumacher in 2000, according to Motorsport.com.
The FIA also approved Verstappen’s switch, with no other driver making a number change for 2026. Racing Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad has chosen to join the grid with No. 41.
Having the defending champion race with the No. 1 on his car was mandatory until 2014 when drivers had the option of keeping their previous number. Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has been the only driver to decline the option during that time, choosing to stick with his No. 44.
Norris, 26, said his decision to switch from No. 4 to No. 1 was a matter of pride for his entire McLaren team.
“It’s tradition, it’s there for a reason,” Norris recently told Sky Sports News. “It’s there because you can go and try grab it and you can work hard to try and get it.
“All of us as a team that gets to have a role in McLaren, or my car, will get to wear that with pride,” Norris said. “It’s all my mechanics, my engineers, everyone that’s part of McLaren gets to have that acknowledgment, too.
“So, it’s not for me, it’s for them as well. It’s their pride, knowing that they put a lot of work and effort into everything that they can also go, ‘We’re No. 1.'”
–Field Level Media
