Watch: Penelope Kvyat adorably tries to shut Max Verstappen's helmet's lid as he's ready to go out on track
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen's girlfriend Kelly Piquet's daughter Penelope was seen adorably shutting down the former's helmet lid ahead of the 2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The weekend at the Yas Marina Circuit was a momentous one for the Dutch driver as he announced that he would be becoming a father for the first time next year.
Verstappen and his girlfriend are expecting their first child together and broke the news on Instagram. The duo has been going out with each other for the past four years and have been a mainstay in the F1 paddock given that the Brazilian model supports the Dutchman quite often in the race weekends.
The 35-year-old is the daughter of the former three-time F1 world champion, Nelson Piquet Sr., and previously went out with former Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat from 2015 to 2019. They share a five-year-old daughter named Penelope and co-parent her together.
Penelope lives with Piquet and Verstappen in the latter's apartment in Monaco and shares a loving dynamic with the 27-year-old. In a video shared on social media, during the Abu Dhabi GP last weekend, Penelope could be seen adorably closing the lid of Max Verstappen's helmet before he headed out to the track.
On the racing front, it was yet another successful campaign for Max Verstappen as he claimed his fourth successive world championship and became only the sixth driver to do so.
Max Verstappen pays tribute to Red Bull after another successful campaign
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen stated that it had been a "long season" and he was looking forward to the off-season but expressed his gratitude to the Austrian team for his successful campaign.
As per F1.com, the four-time world champion reflected:
"It has been a long season and there wasn’t a lot for us to fight for today. I’m looking forward to the break, I’m going to switch off, relax and spend some much-needed time with friends and family. We have things to work on for next year and already have good ideas but we will see when we get into the car next year.
"We have had an up-and-down season and McLaren have been very strong from Miami onwards. I want to thank the Team for the season, it has been a long one but we have stuck together and ultimately to come away with a Drivers’ Championship has been fantastic.”
Red Bull lost their Constructors' Championship to McLaren in the 2024 season as they ultimately finished P3 behind the Woking-based outfit and Ferrari. Max Verstappen was able to hold on to his lead from Lando Norris in the driver's championship owing to his excellent start to the season, where he won seven out of the first 10 races.