Delivering the joyous news that he and Kelly Piquet are expecting a baby, could Max Verstappen announce his shock retirement as he has hinted in the past?
Four-time F1 World Champion Verstappen announced on social media as Formula 1 prepared for the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that he and Piquet are expecting their first baby together.
Max Verstappen and Kelly Piquet are expecting a baby
Verstappen and Piquet have been together since 2020 and shared the news in a joint social media post showing a picture of them with their hands on Kelly’s baby bump.
“Mini Verstappen-Piquet on the way ❤️,” they captioned the photograph, adding: “We couldn’t be happier with our little miracle.”
As for what his first child means for Verstappen’s future, that’s anyone’s guess but he has made it clear as recently as last month that the arrival of a child could mark the beginning of the end of his time on the grid.
“My sister has three kids, seeing more of them as they grow up, seeing them drive those remote cars or electric cars, it reminds me a lot of when I was a kid,” he said on the Podpah Podcast.
“That makes me realise I don’t want to drive forever. I want to see them grow up, maybe see my own kids grow up and spend time with them.”
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Although Verstappen is a four-time World Champion with some predicting he could go on to challenge Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher’s record of seven, the Dutchman has often spoken about family coming first.
He recently reiterated that, saying: “I will definitely be able to continue in F1, but I will also want to do other things to enjoy life to the fullest.
“My ultimate goal would be to win eight titles. It would be great, but not really necessary. There are many other things I would like to do in life like enjoying time with my family.
“Already now there are days when my parents call me, and I tell them that I will call them back later,” Verstappen admitted. “But I also know there will come a day when they will not call me anymore because they will no longer be here.
“These are the moments that make me think you can’t focus everything on racing and F1. I want to spend time with them because, since I was four years old, they dedicated everything to me for my successes and to try to bring me to F1.”
The “miracle” baby is Verstappen’s first while Piquet shares a daughter, Penelope, with former F1 driver Daniil Kvyat.
PlanetF1.com sends our congratulations to Max, Kelly and Penelope.
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