Max Verstappen struck by ‘number three curse’ after Daniel Ricciardo swap
Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen were Red Bull teammates between 2016 and 2018
Max Verstappen has followed in Daniel Ricciardo’s footsteps by suffering a DSQ and DNF in his first three races with the number three in 2026.
The incredible statistic has emerged after Verstappen’s number three car was disqualified from a race at the Nurburgring on Saturday, coming six days after a rare DNF at F1’s Chinese Grand Prix.
Max Verstappen suffers ‘number three curse’ after Daniel Ricciardo swap
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust
Having competed with the number 33 since his F1 debut in 2015, Verstappen has switched to number three – the race number used by his former Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo – for the F1 2026 season.
Ricciardo, who officially retired from motorsport last September, gave his blessing to the move over the winter having been approached by Verstappen at the 2025 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
The Australian enjoyed the most productive years of his F1 career with Red Bull between 2014 and 2018, claiming all but one of his eight career victories with the team.
However, the Perth-born driver had a stuttered start to his Red Bull career in 2014.
What happened to Daniel Ricciardo?
What happened to Daniel Ricciardo? The compelling theories to explain his sharp F1 decline
Daniel Ricciardo: Defining the F1 legacy of the Honey Badger
Ricciardo was disqualified due to a fuel infringement after finishing second on the road at his home race in Melbourne.
He went on to retire from the second race of that season in Malaysia before coming home fourth at the third race in Bahrain.
The so-called ‘number three curse’ – first spotted by F1 writer Daniel Valente on social media – has seen Verstappen suffer a similar fate, recording a DNF and DNS in his first three race starts with his new number.
Verstappen has had a troubled start to the new season with Red Bull, which is producing its own engines for the first time in 2026 in collaboration with Ford.
The four-time world champion did not set a time in qualifying at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix after suffering a spin in qualifying.
He recovered to sixth, albeit a minute behind the race-winning Mercedes of George Russell, on race day at Albert Park.
An ERS cooling problem forced him to retire from last weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, marking his first DNF since Red Bull’s home race in Austria last June.
Verstappen also used the number three in Saturday’s NLS race at the Nurburgring, where he was disqualified after the race due to a tyre infringement.
The 28-year-old – along with teammates Daniel Juncadella and Jules Gounon – was disqualified for using seven sets of tyres across qualifying and the race combined, one more than the permitted maximum of six.
The DNF came after Verstappen had qualified on pole by 1.9 seconds, crossing the finish line almost a minute clear in the four-hour race.
After attending Ford’s season launch, where Red Bull and sister outfit Racing Bulls revealed their liveries for the F1 2026 season, Ricciardo said it was “a pleasure” to see Verstappen take his former race number.
Ricciardo told GQ: “The number three thing is quite cool. It’s a cool story for us and also fans of F1 who supported Max and I when we were teammates.
“When I caught up with Max in Austin and he mentioned he wanted to take number three, of course I was very, very happy to say yes, because otherwise I think he would have had to wait one more year.
“It’s a pleasure for me to pass that number on to him now.”
Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.
You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!
Read next: Max Verstappen can’t catch a break
