KELLY PIQUET has been surrounded by Formula One royalty all her life, but now she firmly has her own crown as the sport’s most famous Wag.
The Brazilian beauty, 35, has been dating three-time F1 world champion Max Verstappen since the end of 2020.
However, thanks to a career in modelling and PR she has risen to have star power in both a financial and influence sense.
Kelly’s professional career has helped her cultivate a huge following on social media.
While she is not a driver, motorsport flows through her veins.
Kelly is the daughter of a disgraced F1 legend and has had previous relationships with former drivers.
READ MORE IN F1
Start your engines
Kelly was born in Germany on December 7, 1988 as the second child of Nelson Piquet and Sylvia Tasmsa.
Brazilian hero Piquet won three F1 titles in the 1980s and continued to be a presence in and around the paddock for years after.
However, in 2022 Piquet was banned from the F1 paddock and ordered to pay £780,000 in damages after using a derogatory term referring to Lewis Hamilton when speaking about the 2021 Silverstone Grand Prix.
Kelly has six siblings including ex-F1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr. who was a key player in the infamous “Crashgate” scandal of 2008.
Most read in Motorsport
CASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERS
Although Kelly was born in Germany, she spent much of her childhood in France.
Her studies saw her spend 12 monthsat St Clare’s Oxford in England before heading back to Brazil.
She eventually found her way to New York, where she graduated in International Relations from the Marymount Manhattan College with a major in Political Science and Economics.
Previous relationship
Kelly was previously in a relationship with Russian Daniil Kvyat.
The pair began dating in January 2017 and had a daughter together, Penelope, months before they split up in December 2019.
And around a year later, Verstappen entered into a relationship with Kelly, going Instagram official in January 2021.
Ironically, Verstappen replaced Kvyat at Red Bull in the second half of the 2016 F1 season.
Verstappen says he gets on well with the three-year old, regularly sharing images with her online.
But has also firmly stated he has no intention of becoming her father figure.
Speaking to TIME magazine, he said: “I’m not the father, that’s not the aim.
“It’s always very important that she has a good relationship with her own father, which she has.
“But I see her every day when I’m at home. We get on very well. She’s very cute.”
Kelly and Verstappen live together in Monaco, a stone’s throw from a host of other drivers who have made the glamorous country their home.
Taking a Piq
When she is not looking after Penelope or seen track-side, Kelly tries her hand at a number of different jobs.
As well as being a model and PR specialist she is also an F1 columnist.
Her work in front of a camera has helped her attract a following of more than 1.4 million fans on Instagram.
Kelly has modelled for the likes of Vogue and has her own make-up range.
Her exploits have seen her top the rich list of F1 Wags when it comes to Instagram earnings.
She often stuns both at trackside and while at red carpet events.
Kelly has revealed that sometimes she has to remind petrol-head Verstappen to get take his mind off the F1 circuit.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
She said: “There have been times where I’ve been like, ‘OK, time to switch off’.
“You have to give a gentle reminder that the sun is shining outside and, you know, there are other things to do.”
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk