Inside Max Verstappen and Kelly Piquet’s romance, from the ‘magical night’ they met to a PDA at US Grand Prix
MAX Verstappen and Kelly Piquet’s romance knows no bounds.
As recently as the US Grand Prix, they packed on the PDA as the world champion finished on the podium and edged closer to winning another title.
Verstappen can now secure his fourth consecutive championship at the Las Vegas Grand Prix this weekend by bettering rival Lando Norris.
Sure to be cheering the Dutchman on from the Red Bull paddock is Brazilian Wag, Kelly.
The pair met in 2016 – bonding over having fathers who were F1 drivers.
Love blossomed in 2020 and they soon moved in together in a £13million Monaco mansion overlooking the Med.
SunSport looks at their relationship, from that ‘magical moment’ when they first laid eyes on each other.
Magic moment
In 2016 Verstappen had dinner with Kelly’s brother, Nelson Jr.
The pretty brunette joined them for the occasion in Monaco, which she spoke about to Vogue Netherlands.
He was 19 at the time, while she was 28.
“Max was friends with my brother Nelson and we all went out for dinner in Monaco one night,” she said in an interview with the fashion magazine in 2022.
“That was six years ago, in 2016. But there was already something magical that evening.”
She added: “Our connection started then. And I’ll leave it at that for now.”
However, instead of Max – Kelly began dating Russian driver Daniil Kvyat from 2017.
They had a daughter together called Penelope, but split just two years after getting together.
In 2020, Kelly and Max reconnected and became Instagram official on 2021.
Max shared a photo of the pair together on social media on New Year’s Day.
“Let’s make 2021 a year to remember in many ways,” he captioned the cute snap.
“Wishing you all success, love and happiness just as I found mine.”
Kelly’s thoughts
For her part, Kelly has been very open about her relationship with Max.
In that same interview with Vogue Netherlands she spoke about their nine-year age difference.
“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!”
As well as bonding over her daughter, Kelly has grown up around motor racing.
Her father is Nelson Piquet, a three-time F1 champion from Brazil.
While Verstappen’s dad Jos was an F1 racer from 1994 to 2003.
How they live
For all the snippets they share on Instagram, in the whole Verstappen and Kelly keep their personal life fairly private.
Declarations of love appear on Valentine’s Day, and most recently, when they celebrated four years together.
After their intimate kiss in Texas at the US Grand Prix in October, Kelly took to Instagram to celebrate their anniversary as she posted a bikini picture next to Verstappen, who also soaked up the sun.
She captioned the photo: “4 years and countless happy moments.”
The photo appeared to be taken from the balcony of their £13million Monaco home.
He has shared glimpses of his chic pad, which he and Kelly also share with their Bengal cats.
In his spare time he likes to take to the water on a Red Bull-branded jet ski, said to be worth around £16,000.
For all his travels around the world, Max is said to have bought a private jet from Sir Richard Branson, worth £12million, which costs over £830,000 to maintain.
Max has made sure the Falcon-900EX is customised to his expensive taste – it has a matt finish and has Max’s logo of a lion on the tail fin, paying homage to the national animal of the Netherlands.
read more sport features
Kelly often joins him when he flies privately.
What the future holds
As it stands, there is no wedding on the horizon just yet.
Previously, Verstappen has said “time will tell” if he and Piquet are to get married, and he hinted he wasn’t ready yet.
But as a stepdad, Verstappen has excelled and has spoken of the possibility of having children with Piquet.
He told Brazilian journalist Mariana Becker: “At the end of the day, it’s not something you decide. Sometimes it needs to happen.”
He added: “I don’t know if there’s any God or not, who decides when it’s time to have a baby. But it would be great to have a child.”
Kelly, herself, has spoken about having a baby with Max too.
Watch this space because their family might just grow soon.