Red Bull driver Max Verstappen's girlfriend Kelly Piquet shared a picture with her daughter Penelope Kvyat at her baby shower on the former's "Unleash the Lion" yacht. The Dutch driver and his partner of four years are awaiting the birth of their first child in the coming weeks after initially announcing Piquet's pregnancy at the season finale in Abu Dhabi last year.
The 36-year-old Brazilian model is well-versed in the world of racing as her father, Nelson Piquet Sr., is a former three-time F1 world champion who raced in the 80s. Piquet's brother Nelson Piquet Jr., too, had a couple of seasons in F1 in the mid-2000s, while her ex-boyfriend Daniil Kvyat, who is the father of her five-year-old daughter Penelope, had raced for Red Bull and Toro Rosso from 2014 to 2020.
On her Instagram Story, Kelly shared a series of pictures of her baby shower on the newly purchased yacht named "Inleash the Lion," celebrating the occasion. In one of her stories, she could be seen enjoying her time with her daughter.
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Max Verstappen is in the middle of a triple-header of races and missed the festivities. Earlier in the year, he was asked if he could be present at the birth of his child, to which the Red Bull driver replied, via GPBlog:
"If it happens, it happens. There's nothing I can do about it. Unfortunately, F1 drivers don't get time off, but at the same time I'm also not the one that is giving birth."
The 27-year-old earned a heap of praise for his performance at the Suzuka International Circuit, where he took pole position and a race win against the odds.
Max Verstappen gives his honest opinion on getting praised for his performances
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen stated that he did "care" about the praise for his performances from outside of the Austrian team. Speaking in the post-race press conference, the four-time F1 world champion said:
"Yeah, it does. I mean, it also means, I guess, that I really care, even though of course it's not been the easiest start to the year for us. You know, we are not where we want to be in terms of performance. I think that's no secret.
"I mean it's nice, but I'm a bit of a person—I don't listen to the positives and the negatives. I'm just in the middle, you know. So I just focus on my own performances and yeah, just keep working, keep grinding."
Max Verstappen earned compliments from Aston Martin driver and two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso, who called his qualifying lap in Suzuka "magical," while his race engineer termed it as "insane."
