The story behind Ricciardo's Formula 1 car number

Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo is widely associated with the No.3. What's behind his choice of the single digit number?

24 February 2021

Since 2014 Daniel Ricciardo has raced with the No.3 on the side of his car. The McLaren driver has won seven races in Formula 1, all with the No.3. Ricciardo drove with the No.3 during his final season in Formula Renault 3.5 before he made his F1 debut later that year in 2011. But why did the Australian choose that number? "I was a big fan of Dale Earnhardt," Ricciardo said. "I’m a fan of motorsports, but I’ve followed NASCAR since I was very young. It was my first go-kart number, as well. When Formula 1 said you can pick your numbers this year, it was a no-brainer for me to choose the three."

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Reason for #3 is it was my first ever number in karting and I was also a fan of Dale Earnhardt. pic.twitter.com/Z9zBntEewl — Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) January 11, 2014

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