Max Verstappen announces birth of daughter Lily with Instagram post

F1 driver Max Verstappen has become the father of a baby girl. The 27-year-old’s partner, Kelly Piquet, gave birth to a girl named Lily. Verstappen announced this on Instagram. “Welcome to the world, sweet Lily. Our hearts are fuller than ever- you are our greatest gift. We love you so much,” Verstappen said in his social media post.

Verstappen was present during the birth and was forced to miss the media day during the week of the Miami Grand Prix as a result. The four-time world champion will be racing during the sixth race weekend of the season.

Piquet is the daughter of three-time world champion Nelson Piquet from Brazil and his Dutch wife Sylvia Tamsma. The 36-year-old already has a daughter called Penelope which she had during a past relationship with the former Russian F1 driver Daniil Kvyat.

The first free training for the Miami Grand Prix is scheduled to being at 6:30 p.m. Dutch time on Friday. The qualification for the sprint race will follow this. The sprint race will then take place on Saturday and the qualification for the race on Sunday.

The Miami Grand Prix will begin at 10 p.m. on Sunday. Verstappen won the race in 2022 and 2023. Last year it was British driver Lando Norris who won the race on the circuit around the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens.

Verstappen is currently third in the F1 season rankings. He has won one race this season and finished within the top three in the other three races. The McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are first and second, respectively.