Max Verstappen is the most in-form driver in Formula 1 today. The Red Bull ace won both the 2021 and 2022 world championships with the latter coming so in dominant fashion. He made his debut back in 2015 and took the sport by storm immediately, so it was clear that he was going to win championships one day.
Since winning the championship in 2021, Verstappen decided to use the number 1 on his car. That is a number reserved only for F1 world champions and Verstappen did not know when he was going to get the opportunity to use it again. Little did he know that he would win back-to-back world titles by winning the crown once again in 2o22.
World Champion 2022!!!
We’ve been absolutely on it, the whole year. A season where we had a difficult start but kept it cool, bounced back and never let go. pic.twitter.com/lRX9mj1siw
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) October 9, 2022
However, before choosing number 1, Verstappen was racing with the number 33 on his car. According to him, the inspiration behind this number was none other than Daniel Ricciardo.
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Max Verstappen wanted double of Daniel Ricciardo’s luck
Verstappen joined F1 in 2015 for Red Bull’s sister team Toro Rosso, and in just a year and a half, he got called up to the Milton-Keynes-based outfit. When he arrived in F1, Verstappen wanted the number 3 to be displayed on his car.
Unfortunately for the Dutch driver, that number was already taken by his future Red Bull teammate Ricciardo. Verstappen, however, wanted to be associated with that particular number under any circumstances, so he decided to get creative with it.
Max Verstappen has confirmed that he will ditch his number 33 next year…. for number 1. #F1 https://t.co/kcrrxTe3oD
— Jon Noble (@NobleF1) December 13, 2021
Verstappen ended up choosing number 33 so that he has ‘double the luck’ that Ricciardo had. The number 33 became synonymous with Verstappen’s early success in the sport, but he will continue to display the number 1 on his car in 2023, because of his latest title win.
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Ricciardo and Verstappen re-united at Red Bull
With seven races to go in the 2022 season, Ricciardo lost his seat at McLaren. After the Woking-based-squad showed him the door, Ricciardo did not find a seat a top team so he felt that it was best to step away from the sport momentarily.
The Aussie driver, however, did not want to lose touch with F1, so he joined Red Bull as a third driver behind Verstappen and Sergio Perez. Ricciardo admitted that he’s happy for this opportunity and looks forward to driving the RB19, but is happy to take some time away from being a full-time F1 driver.
