What Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen has in common with Brazil and why he wants to learn the language after his motorsport career
Max Verstappen has had a certain fondness for the South American country not only since his victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix 2024 in Sao Paulo. The potential son-in-law of former champion Nelson Piquet explains: “My in-laws are Brazilian. And I always really appreciate meeting them when we come over.”
“Unfortunately, it’s a pretty big trip from Europe, but when the Grand Prix is coming up, we always try to make it happen. We come a little earlier and stay a little later so that Kelly can spend a little more time with her family.”
Kelly, the daughter of Nelson Piquet, used to be in a relationship with Verstappen’s former Red Bull colleague Daniil Kwjat and has a daughter from that relationship. However, Kelly Piquet and Verstappen have been together for quite some time now.
Piquet family in Formula 1
Verstappen says: “I’ve been really well received by the family. Of course, there is also a tremendous history in racing. That’s really cool.”
Verstappen’s future father-in-law, Nelson Piquet, won the Formula 1 World Championship three times: in 1981 and 1983 for Bernie Ecclestone’s Brabham team and in 1987 for Williams.
Piquet’s son Nelson Piquet Jr. became Formula E champion in 2015. He also raced in Formula 1 and came in second once, but is best known for his involvement in the “Crashgate” scandal in Singapore in 2008: he deliberately crashed at the command of his team so that his team-mate Fernando Alonso could benefit from the subsequent safety car phase and win.
Verstappen and Gasly agree to learn languages
But: In the Brazilian national language Portuguese, Verstappen cannot talk to the Piquets about the family history of motorsport. He admits: “My Portuguese is still pretty bad. So if I ever stop racing, I might need to take a few lessons.”
In the press conference after the Brazilian Grand Prix, sitting next to Alpine driver Pierre Gasly, Verstappen adds: “We should go to language school together. He has a girlfriend from Portugal.”
Gasly is happy to take up on this and says: “We have a common interest in learning Portuguese!”
All the more so since Verstappen explicitly likes the “Brazilian mentality”, as he says. “I think it suits me pretty well. And Sao Paulo is a track where I want to do well. If you also have a connection to Brazil, it’s a cool thing. And on a day like this, it’s even better.”
