Max Verstappen with number 33 is the new 34th F1 world champion

The new world number 1

A victory like no other! As they say nowadays: there are a few things you don’t discuss over a family dinner, one of them being the last lap of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

That final crucial lap made Max Verstappen the new F1 World Champion, after a particularly controversial season with Lewis Hamilton. The Dutchman snatched defeat from the Briton, thwarting his attempts to take his 8th consecutive title, beating the greatest of them all F1 champions – Michael Schumacher.

As of now the German legend Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton hold the record for the most World Drivers’ Championships, both having won the title on seven occasions.

Funny how after winning the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with his distinctive number 33, which Max has raced with for years, he became the first Dutch driver to win the Formula One World Championship and the 34th Formula One World Drivers’ Champion.

After winning the championship, Verstappen actually formally stated that he would switch his car number to #1. Max currently races with number 33 on his car, but he gave a pretty good reason behind the decision swapping.

“How many times do you get the opportunity to swap? Number one is the best number out there, so for me, it was very straightforward to pick the number one, and hopefully, number 33 doesn’t come back next year!’’ confirmed the F1 champion.

After all, the F1 driver is right: this is an opportunity of a lifetime. You don’t know – this may be the only time Verstappen can have number one in his life.

The last time we saw such a distinctive change was in 2014 when Sebastian Vettel chose to have this number after his 4th consecutive championship win in 2013. And the new F1 champion – Max Verstappen has mentioned a few times before that he has no doubt in his mind about switching his numbers for 2022.

Even though, Max Verstappen and the #33 share an unbreakable bond. Not only this is the number used on his cockpit but also in merchandise and brands to tag the new F1 champion. MV33 is highly popular on social media for all the posts, comments, and tags related to the Flying Dutchman.

But what actually is the story behind Max choosing #33: “My favorite number is 3 but it was already taken by Daniel Ricciardo, so I just added another 3 behind it; it’s double luck. Since I was a young kid, I was racing around with this number. So, I thought it is nice to keep that in F1 as well”

The lucky number proved to be quite significant for Verstappen as it helped him in the development of his career. He witnessed numerous career peaks with the number.

Whether his new number, as a current F1 champion, will bring him the same professional success, remains to be seen in the new season, which starts very, very soon!