Max Verstappen has now shared some insights about his relationship with Kelly Piquet. The Dutchman used an interesting analogy to explain what makes his partnership with Piquet and her family a perfect one.
Speaking about this, Verstappen said to Blick as per FormulaPassion, “I like large families with many animals. I currently have three cats, because they are more independent than dogs. Especially when traveling, it is difficult to take care of dogs, because you would always have to carry them with you as if they were children.”
Max Verstappen y Kelly Piquet♂️ pic.twitter.com/ewwlhDKIeu
— Max Argento (@MaxArgento33) December 8, 2023
Following this, he added, “It’s not easy either for the owner or for the dogs, and Kelly already knows the problems related to her father’s career. The family must be an oasis of peace to forget moments of stress.” Verstappen is perhaps using this analogy to highlight how Piquet’s family is used to being in the news for the wrong reasons due to Nelson.
How did Piquet’s family become a cause of concern for Max Verstappen?
Kelly Piquet’s father, Nelson Piquet, landed himself in hot waters after the former Brazilian driver racially abused Lewis Hamilton. This took place in November 2021 but only came to light in mid-2022.
ESPN understands that Nelson Piquet, a three-time world champion, has been banned from visiting the F1 paddock in future as punishment for his comments about Lewis Hamilton. pic.twitter.com/c1KHlXIyEH
— ESPN F1 (@ESPNF1) June 29, 2022
Following this, Piquet Sr. faced immense backlash and was also penalized a whopping $1 million. Since Nelson is the father of Kelly, who is Verstappen’s partner, the Dutchman’s name was also dragged into this. Addressing this, the 26-year-old said that the remarks were not racist in nature and were just blown out of proportion.
Verstappen then added that he believed that the paddock ban for Nelson was unnecessary. However, Verstappen did condemn the racial slur used against Hamilton. Even though Verstappen did condemn Nelson’s remarks, fans, and some experts yet slammed the Red Bull driver.