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 to 2018. Verstappen won his first world title in 2021 and accepted the traditional honour of driving with the No 1.

Hello and welcome to today’s edition of GPblog’s liveblog. Check back to keep up with the latest happenings across the F1 world. Max Verstappen can no longer have the number one on his Red Bull in 2026 as Lando Norris won the world championship.

Verstappen had used No. 3 during his brief junior career, but Ricciardo had already taken the number by the time the Dutchman made his debut in 2015, prompting him to pick the doubled-up No. 33 instead. He then switched to No. 1 when during his four title-defending seasons.

In a short clip of various interviews with Ricciardo, ranging from his time at Renault, Red Bull and McLaren, the F1 fan favourite used his Italian to aim a few unserious insults at his rivals. The first of which was a simple, but effective: "Shut up Carlos [Sainz]. I'll smash your face."

Buying into counterfactuals is unwise but entertaining, and these "what if" moments could well have won Max Verstappen or Oscar Piastri the F1 title.

Even rivals feel it. Max Verstappen opens up on Lewis Hamilton’s tough Ferrari season and why it’s painful to watch one of F1’s greats struggle.

Max Verstappen saw the bright side of his F1 championship loss to Lando Norris, giving a characteristically blunt response in a recent interview. The four-time world champion came from 104 points behind McLaren earlier in the season to finish just two points behind Norris after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix,