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Max Verstappen and his partner Kelly Piquet have announced that they are expecting their first baby together. To go along with their announcement, Kelly has posted a heartfelt but serious message on her Instagram.
Max and Kelly
Max Verstappen and Kelly Piquet have been together for over 4 years. Kelly is 35 and Max is 27, and they live together in Monaco. They first hooked up in 2020, and Kelly has been by Max’s side through all of his four Formula 1 World Championship titles.
Kelly was previously dating ex-Formula 1 driver Daniil Kvyat, who raced for Toro Rosso (which later became Alpha Tauri) and Red Bull. Kelly has one daughter, Penelope, from that relationship.
Kelly is the daughter of the Brazilian 3-time Formula 1 World Champion Nelson Piquet. Her brother Nelson Piquet Jr also competed in Formula 1 in 2008 and 2009 racing for the Renault F1 team, but he was involved in the infamous ‘crashgate’ scandal that saw Renault team boss Flavio Briatore banned from motorsport for many years.
Kelly Piquet Instagram
Abu Dhabi Finale
Heading in to the final race of the 2024 season, Max has already claimed his fourth world championship title. But that doesn’t mean the end to the season has been without drama for the Dutchman.
At the previous race in Qatar, Verstappen and Mercedes F1 driver George Russell got in to a heated war of words after Russell fairly blamed Verstappen for impeding him during qualifying.
What has followed has been an ever-growing feud between the two drivers, culminating in both drivers saying that have lost respect for one-another.
In the midst of that ongoing saga, there was some happier news to report for Verstappen.
Pregnancy announcement
On the morning of Friday 6th December, not long before the first practice sessions of the Abu Dhabi weekend were about to kick off, Max Verstappen and Kelly Piquet made a joint post on Instagram announcing that they were expecting a ‘Mini Verstappen-Piquet’.
The caption next to the photo also said that they “couldn’t be happier with their little miracle”.
Other F1 drivers and motorsport stars have been quick to offer their congratulations.
Fernando Alonso commented “Congratulations !!”.
MotoGP champion Marc Marquez said “Congratulations to you both”.
And ex-F1 driver turned pundit Giedo van der Garde commented saying “Verstappen-Piquet, all the other kids go-karting can pack their bag. Congrats to you two”.
And van der Garde has got a point. The Mini Verstappen-Piquet is going to have some serious racing blood running through its veins, with a 3-time World Champion as their grandfather and a 4-time (maybe more) World Champion for a father.
Kelly's hearfelt but serious message
Kelly reposted their announcement to her story, and posted a heartfelt message along with it.
She said “Cannot express how happy we are. Thank you for all the sweet warm messages.”
Kelly went on to say something a little more serious, obviously giving consideration to those who are not as fortunate as she is: “I understand how these announcements can be challenging for those who are longing for a child.
“While such news is often a joyous occasion, it can also evoke feelings of sadness, frustration, or longing in those who are struggling with this. If that’s you, I’m sending al my love, my deepest hugs and magic your way.”
Will Max keep racing?
Max and his teammate Sergio Perez were recently interviewed on the PodPah podcast in the build up to the Brazilian GP.
On the podcast Max said “My sister has 3 kids and, you know, seeing them, well seeing more of them because at the moment I don’t see them enough, seeing them grow up, driving these little electric cars, little radio controlled cars, that reminds me a lot of course how I was as a kid.
“That also makes me realise that I don’t want to drive forever, you know. I want to see them grow up, I want to see hopefully my own kids grow up. Spend time with them, not that you’re always away. That is something that at the end of the day is way more important than what you achieve in any sport”.
Evidently, Max knows that there will come a time when his family commitments will become more important than his racing. When that is, however, remains to be seen.
Forever Joy and Happiness for Max, Kelly, and their little-one(s)…