- Verstappen and partner Kelly Piquet announced the birth of their daughter today
- The Red Bull driver is third in the F1 leaderboard after five rounds of the season
Max Verstappen has arrived in Miami ahead of Sunday’s Grand Prix just hours after announcing the birth of his first child.
The Dutch driver missed media duty yesterday after welcoming his daughter Lily with girlfriend Kelly Piquet in France, with Red Bull announcing his absence hours before he was supposed to appear.
There were concerns that the reigning world champion, who is hunting a fifth consecutive drivers’ title might miss out on this evening’s qualifiers, but the 27-year-old touched down in Miami on a private jet on Friday afternoon.
Formula 1 posted a video of the 27-year-old arriving at the circuit on X, with the caption: ‘The paddock’s newest Dad has arrived!’
A normal race weekend will have practice sessions on Friday, but Miami’s sprint format means that competitive driving starts on Friday evening.
Verstappen is third in the F1 leaderboard after five rounds of the season and lives in Monaco with partner Piquet.
Max Verstappen arrived in Miami just hours after announcing the birth of his first child
The Dutch driver welcomed his daughter Lily with girlfriend Kelly Piquet in Monaco yesterday
Yesterday social media users tracked down Verstappen’s jet to Nice, amid fears the Red Bull driver would not arrive in Miami in time.
The F1 star announced the birth alongside an Instagram post this afternoon, where he wrote: ‘Welcome to the world, sweet Lily. Our hearts are fuller than ever – you are our greatest gift. We love you so much.’
While Lily is Max’s first child, model Piquet, 36, already has a daughter, Penelope, born in 2019, from her previous relationship with Formula One driver Daniil Kvyat, 30.
Verstappen will join Nico Hulkenberg as the only drivers with children on the F1 grid.
Asked if he had any advice for Verstappen as a new parent, the Kick Sauber driver responded: ‘I hope it’s a good sleeper.’
Meanwhile, his rivals banished any suggestions that he will be any less competitive following his daughter’s birth.
Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton said: ‘I just wish him all the best. It’s such an amazing, special thing. I spoke to him briefly in Saudi and saw how excited he was. Big congrats to him.’
Hulkenberg added: ‘I feel once we step in the car – visor down, go out – even for me, I tend to forget what goes on outside because we’re just so focused and so driven to perform and maximise.
Verstappen is the reigning world champion is hunting a fifth consecutive drivers’ title this year
Verstappen finished second in last month’s Grand Prix in Jeddah with Piastri coming out on top
‘I just personally feel it’s added benefit because it’s giving me so much outside of work and outside of being in Formula 1. So I would even say it’s kind of been helpful for me, if anything.’
Kevin Magnussen and Verstappen’s former Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez are also fathers but lost their seats at the end of the 2024 season.
Verstappen goes into the Miami Grand prix in third place in the season standings, tucked between McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’s George Russell. Oscar Piastri tops the table after his win in Jeddah.
This weekend’s Grand Prix is the first of three races across the season in the US.
