9Kelly Piquet and Max Verstappen at the Fia Prize Giving Gala, December 2021.Hollandse Hoogte/Shutterstock
Love in the fast lane! Max Verstappen is one of the biggest Formula 1 stars in the world, but off the track, his heart belongs to Kelly Piquet.
The two-time World Drivers’ Championship winner and the model started dating in 2020 after meeting for the first time four years earlier. While the pair are nine years apart in age, they have plenty in common, racing-wise: they both come from F1 families.
The Belgian-Dutch driver is the son of Jos Verstappen, who was an F1 racer from 1994 to 2003. The fashion columnist, meanwhile, is the daughter of Nelson Piquet, a three-time F1 champion from Brazil. Her brother Nelson Piquet Jr. is also a race car driver who formerly competed in F1 and Formula E.
“My earliest memories are from the race track,” Kelly told Vogue Netherlands in an interview published in December 2022. “There’s a really cute video of me walking down the pit lane with a sandwich in one hand and a drink in the other … the princess of the track. I was always very involved in my brother’s career. I’ve been through the ups and downs, seeing what pressure does to a person. This world is so familiar to me, I know what those guys are going through.”
Before she began dating Max, Kelly was in a relationship with F1 driver Daniil Kvyat, whom she dated from 2017 to 2019. The former couple welcomed daughter Penelope in July 2019.
Though Max doesn’t have any 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren of his own, he seems to enjoy spending time with Penelope since he began dating Kelly. In July 2022, he attended the toddler’s 3rd 𝐛𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡day party, posing for photos with his girlfriend and Penelope, who was dressed as a mermaid for the event. “Favorite moments from the party 💕,” Kelly wrote via Instagram at the time, captioning a carousel of snaps that included a picture of Max posing in front of Penelope’s mermaid-themed cake.
Max, for his part, has stayed relatively tight-lipped about his romance with Kelly, but he occasionally shares photos from the couple’s trips with his millions of Instagram followers. “Visit to Austria … more coming soon 🚁🗻🇦🇹,” he wrote in January 2022, captioning a photo of himself and Kelly riding in a helicopter over mountains.
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In December 2022, Kelly revealed that she hopes more kids are in her future, telling Vogue Netherlands that she “would like to have more 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren.” Max, meanwhile, told Dutch newspaper De Limburger that same month that he “definitely” wants little ones of his own.
He’s also OK with his future little ones following in his racing footsteps — but only if it’s their choice. “I’m not going to push my kids to race,” he explained. “They have to want it themselves.”
Keep scrolling for a look back at Kelly and Max’s relationship timeline:
Credit: Courtesy Kelly Piquet/Instagram
2016
The duo met for the first time in Monaco, where they had dinner with Kelly’s brother Nelson Jr. “Something magical happened that night,” Kelly recalled to Vogue Netherlands in December 2022. At the time, she was 28 and Max was 19.
Credit: Courtesy Kelly Piquet/Instagram
2020
Max and Kelly began dating after her split from Kyvat.
Credit: Courtesy Max Verstappen/Instagram
January 2021
The pair made their romance Instagram official when Max shared a photo of the twosome getting cozy on New Year’s Day. “Let’s make 2021 a year to remember in many ways,” he wrote. “Wishing you all success, love and happiness just as I found mine.”
Credit: Hussein Malla/AP/Shutterstock
December 2021
“WORLD F–KING CHAMPION,” Kelly wrote via Instagram after Max won his first F1 championship. “Just unforgettable.”
Credit: Courtesy Max Verstappen/Instagram
May 2022
“Happy Mothers Day to these amazing mothers 🙏🤩,” Max wrote via Instagram, sharing a photo of Kelly and his mother, Sophie Kumpen. Another snap showed him with his younger sister, Victoria Verstappen, who shares two 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥ren with boyfriend Tom Heuts.
Credit: Laurent Vu/SIPA/Shutterstock
June 2022
Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton called out Kelly’s father after he used a Brazilian Portuguese racial slur to describe Hamilton in an interview. “It’s more than language. These are archaic mindsets [that] need to change and have no place in our sport,” Hamilton tweeted at the time. “I’ve been surrounded by these attitudes and targeted my whole life. There has been plenty of time to learn. Time has come for action.”
Nelson Sr. later claimed his comments were taken out of context. “What I said was ill-thought-out, and I make no defense for it, but I will clarify that the term used is one that has widely and historically been used colloquially in Brazilian Portuguese as a synonym for ‘guy’ or ‘person’ and was never intended to offend,” he told CNN in a statement. “I would never use the word I have been accused of in some translations. I strongly condemn any suggestion that the word was used by me with the aim of belittling a driver because of his skin color. I apologize wholeheartedly to anyone that was affected, including Lewis, who is an incredible driver, but the translation in some media that is now circulating on social media is not correct. Discrimination has no place in F1 or society and I am happy to clarify my thoughts in that respect.”
Max, for his part, said Nelson Sr. was “definitely not a racist” but condemned his remarks. “I think the wording that was used, even with the different kind of cultures and things they probably said when they were younger, was not correct,” Max told reporters at the time. “Let it be a lesson for the future not to use that word because it’s very offensive, especially nowadays — it gains more traction.”
Credit: SHAWN THEW/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
October 2022
Kelly planted a smooch on Max after he won his second F1 championship. “He did it again ✌🏻⭐️⭐️,” she wrote via Instagram at the time. “World Champion ‘21 ‘22.”
Credit: Federico Basile/IPA/ipa-agen/Shutterstock
December 2022
Kelly opened up about her romance with Max in an interview with Vogue Netherlands. “I think we have a very healthy relationship, easygoing, we have a lot of understanding and support for each other,” she said. “You would think the age difference could be a challenge, but so far things are going really well. I also really appreciate how he treats Penelope. It’s so sweet to see. He always asks for her, always visits her to say hello when he leaves, and gets her love back. So cute!”
The cover photographs drummed up controversy among some F1 fans, however, as the pictures showed Kelly dressed in racing gear despite the fact that she has never been a racer herself. In some snaps, she wore her father’s old racing suit.
Credit: Courtesy Kelly Piquet/Instagram
February 2023
Kelly shared two photos of the couple snuggled up in Monaco for Valentine’s Day. In the comments section, Max left a string of three red heart emojis.
