Kelly Piquet thanks Max Verstappen for the 'sweetest welcome home ever'

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen's girlfriend Kelly Piquet expressed her delight towards the Dutchman after he presented her with a thoughtful gift on her return back home. The 27-year-old is gearing up for the upcoming season as he will head off to Bahrain for the official pre-season testing at the Sakhir International Circuit, that will take place from February 26 to 28.

It will be a crucial year for the Dutch driver given that he will have an opportunity to become only the second driver to win five consecutive driver's championships apart from Michael Schumacher. However, the 63-time F1 race winner was not completely taken over the sport as he left a bouquet of roses for his girlfriend Kelly Piquet on her return back to home after a trip with her friends to Miami.

On her Instagram Story, the Brazilian model posted a picture of the bouquet that Max Verstappen left her at home and wrote:

"The sweetest welcome home ever."

Snapshot of Kelly Piquet's story...Credits-Instagram

The duo have been dating for over four years after first being spotted in late 2020 and will become parents in the early part of 2025 for the first time after announcing the pregnancy in Abu Dhabi last year.

Max Verstappen gives his take on his chances of being present at his child's birth

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen stated that it would be difficult for him to skip a race to witness the birth of his child with partner Kelly Piquet.

As per GPBlog, the 27-year-old spoke about the upcoming event in his life and said:

"Yes, but I cannot miss a race unless [I have] too many [penalty] points or [for] swearing. Anything is possible, but in F1 that doesn't exist. You cannot take two months off. 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 Red Bull driver turned his attention to the RB21 and the 2025 season as the Milton-Keynes outfit attempted to regain their throne from McLaren. Speaking about working on the issues that plagued them last year, Max Verstappen said (via PlanetF1):

“I mean, that’s what we are working on and that’s what we’ll continue to try and improve. I think we do understand, of course, where the issues were coming from. But now, yeah, it’s about trying to just add a better balance to the car. Change maybe a few approaches. But I guess only time will tell, of course, how much we have found. "

While Max Verstappen hung on to the driver's title in 2024, the Red Bull lost to McLaren and Ferrari in the constructor's championship.