Max Verstappen is rarely mistaken for a sentimentalist in Formula 1 paddocks, but a rare People magazine interview tied to his daughter Lily's first birthday has produced a softer side of the four-time world champion than the helmet camera and team radio usually allow.
The 28-year-old, who became a father in April 2025 with partner Kelly Piquet, used the interview to talk openly about juggling racing with home life and about how completely the arrival of Lily has reshaped his weekends.
"For me, it's just really nice to be able to spend time now together, and also, for me, racing is fun, it's great, but it's also a nice thing to be home," Verstappen said.
Asked about the simple business of being in the same room as his daughter, the Red Bull driver was almost disarmingly direct.
"I mean, it's just great to be able to spend time at home," he said.
There were lighter notes too.
"She seems to like me a lot, so that's good," he joked. "We spend a lot of private time at home, so it's just really cute."
"I know what I want," he said. "I know I also want to take my private time and now of course you, after a race weekend you try to head home and prioritise that probably a little bit more than you used to."
Piquet, separately, has detailed how the pair organise the logistical side. In a recent WhatPeopleAreWearing interview, she said the formula is essentially zero-buffer scheduling.
"I think it's about being intentional with your time," Piquet explained. "In Max's case, he will try to leave as late as possible for a race and come back as soon as possible. And in my case, it's more about knowing how to say no. I think we're doing okay so far."
The contrast with Verstappen's early career image is stark. The Dutchman's first F1 year in 2015 came aged 17, his first championship title at 24, and the fourth at 27, a relentlessly cockpit-first portfolio that left little public room for anything else. Lily's arrival has plainly changed that calculus, and Verstappen sounded genuinely nostalgic about marking her birthday.
"But it's a really cool story to be able to have done that together," he said of the first year of fatherhood. "It's probably something that we will think about and cherish for life."
That admission lands in a season where Verstappen has been firmly out of the title fight. Mercedes' Andrea Kimi Antonelli leads the drivers' standings after four rounds, with the Red Bull driver fifth in Miami after a mid-race spin and damage to the RB22's floor. The on-track context has been rough; the off-track context, by Verstappen's own account, has rarely been better.
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