Max Verstappen is embracing change heading into the first year of the new regulations.

F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi - Qualifying
There will be no more number one car for Max Verstappen (Image: Getty)

Max Verstappen has confirmed that he will race with the number three in Formula One next season, taking over Daniel Ricciardo’s number after the Australian confirmed his retirement from motorsport earlier this year.

Verstappen had previously raced with the number 33, but took the opportunity to drive under the number one while he was eligible as world champion between 2022 and 2025. However, with Lando Norris finishing last season at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings, the Red Bull racer has been forced to vacate the digit.

Instead, Verstappen will use the No. 3, which Ricciardo previously used before his retirement. The number has legendary status in motorsport circles, made iconic by NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt, who won 67 races with the number on the side of his Richard Childress Racing machine.

“It won’t be number ’33’,” Verstappen confirmed to Viaplay. “My favourite number has always been three, apart from number one. We can now switch. It will be number three. ‘33′ was always fine, but I prefer a single three to two threes. I’ve always said it represented double happiness, but of course, I’ve already had my luck in F1.”

Norris, meanwhile, will experience the thrill of the number one car for the first time in his F1 career. The 26-year-old confirmed to Sky Sports News that he plans to take the opportunity after sealing the crown with a P3 finish at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

FIA Awards 2025
Lando Norris will now take the number one (Image: Getty)

“It’s tradition, it’s there for a reason,” he explained, “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. It’s all my mechanics, my engineers, everyone that’s part of McLaren gets to have that acknowledgement 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 number one’. It’s not as cool when you say ‘we are number four’ so they will be even happier than I am!”

A new number isn’t the only change that Verstappen will face in 2026. His Red Bull team will look very different when the cars arrive in Melbourne for the season opener, following the departures of Helmut Marko and several key members of his senior engineering team. Then there is the uncertainty surrounding the role of race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.