Max Verstappen’s Brazilian girlfriend, Kelly Piquet is a very vocal advocate of social causes. In fact, her mother, Viviane is also part of a charitable institution called ‘GPS Foundation’ that annually runs lavish galas and fundraisers to boost their championing of causes in the country of Brazil. During the 2024 edition of the event, Verstappen himself donated a pretty special package after his iconic win at Interlagos, last weekend.
The Red Bull driver donated a full kit to the gala for auctioning. This included a Red Bull Racing cap, jacket, and t-shirt — all of which were autographed and personally worn by the 27-year-old throughout the duration of the Grand Prix weekend.
One lucky bidder went away with the entire set for the price of 100,000 Brazilian Reais (approx. $17,665). The item that was sold was allocated to lot no.33 (which was Verstappen‘s racing number until 2022 when he assumed #1 for being the defending driver’s world champion).
| Ontem aconteceu a Gala GPS Foundation, uma instituição que organiza um leilão beneficente em Brasília, para ajudar instituições e pessoas carentes.
Max Verstappen doou um kit contendo boné, camiseta e casaco, todos autografados e usados por ele no fim de semana do GP do… pic.twitter.com/CHTzSLfENt
— Portal RBR Brasil (@BRredbullracing) November 7, 2024
The GPS Foundation has been working towards creating impactful social drives in Brazil since 2018. Their main purpose is to not only financially help the needy people of Brazil but also create an ecosystem where the leaders of the country are more tangibly involved in the social issues of its people.
Their work so far has been quite impactful too. Last year’s gala saw the organization raise upwards of $167,000,000. No doubt, with the event only growing more popular as the years go by, the latest edition will surpass this metric.
Verstappen’s history of charity
While Lewis Hamilton has been an honorary citizen of Brazil for some time now, Verstappen, too holds the country very close to his heart. This might be in part due to his relationship with Piquet but the three-time world champion has always presented a helping hand for these noble causes.
For instance, earlier this year, the Brazilian demographic of Rio Grande do Sul suffered devastating floods leading to a complete breakdown of the area and heavy loss of life and finances. Verstappen stepped up and donated another piece of Red Bull Racing memorabilia to aid the donations.
During a fundraising event in Miami, Piquet took to her social media account to showcase Verstappen’s autographed Miami GP t-shirt that was to be auctioned. She raised around $100,000 through that item alone.
