In Pictures: Max Verstappen shares pictures with girlfriend Kelly Piquet amid F1 mid-season break 

Red Bull driver and three-time world champion Max Verstappen shared some pictures with his girlfriend Kelly Piquet during his F1 mid-season break on his social media. Like the rest of the grid, the Dutchman has also been resting and recharging before going full throttle once again for the second half of the season.

After finishing in P4 at the Belgian GP, the 26-year-old headed into the summer break with a four-race winless streak and hadn't won since the Spanish GP in late June. Since then, he has stood on the podium just once in the next four races, a P2 finish at an eventful British GP which was eventually won by Lewis Hamilton.

On August 20, Max Verstappen took to his X handle and shared some glimpses of his summer break with his girlfriend Kelly Piquet, the daughter of former three-time world champion, Nelson Piquet Sr.

As quoted by "PitPass", the Red Bull driver spoke about his break ahead of his home race in Zandvoort and said:

"It was good to spend some time relaxing with family and friends over the summer break and we are feeling refreshed and ready for the second half of the season. It is great to start it back at my home race; it is always a fantastic atmosphere, and the fans are incredible, so it is a special one for me," he said.

"It is a great circuit, with its short straights and narrow track and hopefully we can come back even stronger for this race. We are looking forward to the week ahead and hopefully we can be fighting for the win," Verstappen added.

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F1 pundit previews the second half of the season for Max Verstappen

F1 pundit Tom Clarkson claimed that Max Verstappen would need to be more aware of the intense competition on the grid. Speaking on the "F1 Nation" podcast, the F1 pundit said that Verstappen needed to be accepting of his results and performances come the second half of the season instead of trying to take a risk by 'forcing something' that may impact his race (via PlanetF1):

“I think Max when he comes back, has got to realize that he’s not going to win every race in the second half of this season. Because the competition is too close, and he’s got to bang in the percentages," Clarkson said.

“He’s got to take the fifth place when that’s all that the car is good for, instead of trying to force something that might lead to an accident with another car or result in a spin or some issue. When the performance isn’t there, he’s just got to get what is available on the table,” he added.

Despite the challenge from the rest of the grid, Max Verstappen still leads the driver's championship by 78 points from McLaren driver Lando Norris with ten races and three sprints remaining, sitting on 277 points as compared to Norris' 199 after 14 races and three Sprints thus far.