Max Verstappen’s relationship with Kelly Piquet is one of the most talked about pairings in all of sport today. However, before she got together with the two-time world champion, she was dating former Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat.
Piquet and Kvyat started dating in 2017 and had their child Penelope in July 2019. That year in December, the two of them split up, but their separation might’ve come as a surprise to fans since Piquet was accompanying Kvyat to all his races during this time.
Just a month before their separation, Piquet brought little Penelope to a race, and all of them were spotted walking together on the paddock. The picture was shared by F1’s official Instagram handle, with the caption- “Bring your kid to work day.”
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Piquet obviously holds this memory very close to her heart, since she put it on her Instagram account’s story highlight where it remains even today. It seems as though just a month before they split up, Kvyat and Piquet were on good terms, at least in public, so much so that the Brazilian shared pictures of him on her social media stories.
Kelly Piquet and Penelope living with Max Verstappen now
After their separation, it seems that Penelope started living with her mother, Kelly Piquet. A little more than a year after their break up, Piquet began dating Max Verstappen, and together, they became one of F1’s most popular couples.
Piquet and Verstappen live together, and Penelope has become somewhat of a ‘little best friend’ of Verstappen’s. Verstappen, who often streams sim racing on his setup at home, is seen playing around and joking with Penelope, who turned three last year. In fact, Verstappen’s mother Sophie Kumpen revealed that Verstappen having found a family in Piquet and Penelope back home, has helped him improve as a person and an F1 driver.
More of Penelope and Max to bless your timeline pic.twitter.com/TgwAYff325
— Verstappen News (@MV_Updates) April 17, 2023
Penelope playing with Verstappen when the Dutchman is streaming races, is something that the F1 community finds adorable, and wishes to see more of.
Verstappen back in control of championship fight
After a somewhat nervy start to the season, Verstappen established dominance once again at last weekend’s Miami GP. The 25-year-old started the race from P9, whereas his teammate Sergio Perez started on pole. However, Verstappen was able to breeze past the field and win the race, preventing Perez from taking the lead in the standings.
Simply… lovely!
What a great win today! A very strong race 🙌
The car felt really good and the strategy paid off perfectly @redbullracing 👏 This is a fantastic 1-2 team result again, let’s keep this going 💪
Thank you, Miami – You have been great🌴 pic.twitter.com/FdTdxeMITR
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) May 7, 2023
Verstappen’s win in Miami was his third of the year. Currently, he is 14 points clear of Perez in the standings heading into the next round of F1 racing in Imola.