Kelly Piquet shares emotional message of the “most incredible day” when Max Verstappen won his first F1 title
Kelly Piquet recently posted a three-year-old picture of her hugging Max Verstappen after the latter's 2021 F1 world championship victory. It has been three years now since Verstappen won his first driver's title.
The 2021 Formula 1 season was one of the most intense and controversial in the sport's history. Red Bull Racing developed a car that could challenge the dominant Mercedes team and their star driver, Lewis Hamilton. Right from the start of the season, a fierce battle for the championship ensued between the two drivers and teams. Verstappen and Hamilton tussled in almost every single race, eagerly trying to finish ahead of each other.
This also led to several severe crashes, including those in Monza and Silverstone. The entire championship battle was not only nerve-wracking for drivers and teams but also impacted those close to both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. During this time, Kelly Piquet was with the Red Bull driver, supporting him at nearly every race of the season.
In the 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP, when Max Verstappen won the championship after a controversial last-lap battle, Piquet was present in Parc Ferme to cheer for her partner. Heartwarming pictures of the couple hugging and kissing each other after Verstappen clinched his maiden world championship were captured.
Recently, Piquet posted one of the pictures from the day on her official Instagram stories, celebrating Verstappen's first title's third anniversary.
"Three years since the most memorable day @maxverstappen1," Piquet wrote.
Max Verstappen's first thoughts after winning his first world championship
After Max Verstappen won his first world championship with Red Bull in 2021, he was interviewed by F1 on their official YouTube channel.
During the interview, Verstappen expressed his thoughts after all the celebrations with with his family, friends, and team. He explained how he felt nervous throughout the day since the world title was at stake, but was determined to keep pushing for it.
"The whole day has been a roller coaster, of course. I was nervous this morning going into the car, knowing, you know, there was a title at stake. And then, you know, throughout the race as well, the roller coaster of emotion where it seems like you're losing the battle. But I always said, I'm just going to push into the last lap, I'm not going to make it easy and I just kept believing in the might something you know come my way," Verstappen said at 0:07.
Verstappen is now a four-time world champion. He recently won his fourth consecutive title at the 2024 F1 Las Vegas GP. The 2024 F1 season was a difficult one for the Dutchman since he faced tough competition from the McLaren and Ferrari drivers. He won only nine of the 24 races but still managed to bag the title.