Max Verstappen will wear No.1 next season

The Dutchman confirmed in an interview on the official F1 channel that he will wear number 1 for 2022.

Published on 13/12/2021 à 16:34

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Max Verstappen will wear No.1 next season

The Dutchman exchanges n°33 for n°1 - Photo DPPI

For the first time since 2014, the world champion in F1 will sport the number 1 on his car. Sebastian Vettel with Red Bull was the last to do so 7 years ago. Lewis Hamilton had refused to change his number 44 and Nico Rosberg had not defended his title since he retired after his coronation in 2016. The one who became this last Sunday in Abu Dhabi the 34th world champion in F1 then confirmed that he will wear number 1 for 2022 in place of the number 33 he had until now. The Dutchman had already announced his desire, a few weeks ago, to have this prestigious figure on his car in the event of a title this season.

“Yes I will use it, approves the world champion. How many times can you do this? I don't know, maybe this is the only time I get to do it in my life. I think it's the best possible number. I’ll put it on the car.”

The Dutchman took advantage of this interview to pay tribute to Lewis Hamilton, deprived of an 8th world title which would have been a record in the history of Formula 1.

“I always knew that Lewis was a great driver, but I never really had the opportunity to race against him until this year. I think what was very special this season is that both of us pushed our cars and our teams to the limit because we demanded a lot ».

Aged just 24, the Dutchman is the 4th youngest world champion in Formula 1, behind Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. Max Verstappen confesses to having reached “his ultimate dream, and everything that comes after is a bonus ».

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