{"id":437666,"date":"2026-01-26T02:18:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T02:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/437666\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T02:18:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T02:18:11","slug":"daniel-ricciardo-explains-no-3-given-to-champion-max-verstappen-for-upcoming-season-red-bull-australian-grand-prix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/437666\/","title":{"rendered":"Daniel Ricciardo explains No.3 given to champion Max Verstappen for upcoming season, Red Bull, Australian Grand Prix"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daniel Ricciardo<\/a> has recalled the conversation in which four-time Formula 1<\/a> world champion Max Verstappen<\/a> asked for the Australian’s permission to revive his iconic No.3 in the sport.<\/p>\n

Since Ricciardo’s retirement from the sport in Singapore 2024<\/a>, the number was ineligible to use<\/a> for two full seasons, leaving it collecting dust until 2027.<\/p>\n

But the No.3 has been Verstappen’s preferred number since his karting days, and after the two former Red Bull<\/a> teammates were reunited in Austin 2025<\/a>, he took the time to ask for Ricciardo’s blessing to release it early. <\/p>\n

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Ricciardo admitted it was “a pleasure” to pass on the iconic No.3. <\/p>\n

“I got to see Max recently, and with the number three thing, it is quite cool and a cool story for us,” Ricciardo said.<\/p>\n

“Also, for the fans of F1 who supported Max and I when we were teammates. So when I caught up with Max in Austin [in 2025], he mentioned that he wanted to take the number three.<\/p>\n

“Of course, I was very, very happy to say yes because otherwise he would have had to wait one more year, so it is a pleasure for me to pass that number on to him.”<\/p>\n

For 2026, Verstappen can no longer run the number one as the reigning world champion; that honour goes to McLaren<\/a> and Lando Norris<\/a>‘ garage.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The No.3 in Formula 1 has a new home. \u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

Verstappen was set to revert to his permanent race number of No.33. But a change in the sporting regulations for the 2026 season, along with a huge overhaul of the technical regulations<\/a>, allowed drivers to change their number if they so wished.<\/p>\n

Now, a piece of Ricciardo’s iconic career in Formula 1 will re-join the paddock for the upcoming season. <\/p>\n

Verstappen will sport the No.3 for pre-season testing, which begins on February 11, and at the Australian Grand Prix on March 6-8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Daniel Ricciardo has recalled the conversation in which four-time Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen asked for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437667,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-437666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-formula-1","12":"tag-formula1","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=437666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/437666\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/437667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=437666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=437666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=437666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}