Father of Kelly Piquet’s Child Daniil Kvyat, Was Once Ironically Encouraged to “Have More Kids” After Sharing Podium With Max Verstappen

Former Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat has had a tumultuous career in F1. At one point in time, he was a top driver alongside Daniel Ricciardo at Milton Keynes. But then came a prodigy named Max Verstappen. Verstappen has made his name in F1 since then, though Kvyat has vanished from the pinnacle of motorsport as time passed on.

Daniil Kvyat was out of F1 in 2018 after he lost his Red Bull drive to Max Verstappen in 2016. The Russian driver was dating Brazilian model Kelly Piquet, daughter of 3-time champion Nelson Piquet.

Kyvat received a lifeline in his career as he got a chance to return to F1 with Toro Rosso in 2019. Kvyat grabbed the opportunity and delivered decent results. One of his highlight performances in 2019 was at the German GP where he got a shock podium alongside winner Max Verstappen, Kelly Piquet’s current partner.

The podium was extra special as he just had a child with his then-partner Piquet before the Hockenheim race.

In light of this, his former boss, Christian Horner, jokingly commented that Kvyat should have more children. Horner said, “Unbelievable – he [Daniil Kvyat] should have more kids!”

“I’m so pleased for him. He’s kept his head down, he’s fought his way back into the [Red Bull] program… For him to become a father last night and be on the podium today – it was a very mature drive by him.”

Kvyat started the 2019 German GP from the 14th on the grid. In a frantic rain-marred race, Kvyat had to drive quite maturely as the top drivers were all over the place, spinning and crashing out. Eventually, his team pitted him for fresh tires at the right time for the final stint to end up P3.

Read More: All the Crashes at the German Grand Prix that Defined the Race

Finishing behind 2nd placed Sebastian Vettel, Kvyat certainly was happy and dedicated his podium to Kelly and his newborn daughter.

When did Max Verstappen and Kelly Piquet start dating?

Daniil Kvyat and Kelly Piquet were partners from 2017 to 2019. They have a daughter together named Penelope Kvyat. Although after that, the couple split up in late 2019 and Piquet reportedly started dating Max Verstappen in late 2020.

Verstappen made it official on his Instagram in January 2021 as he posted a picture with Kelly wishing Happy New Year to everyone. Since then, Kelly has been seen with Verstappen several times during the past seasons. She regularly visits the paddock on race weekends.

Piquet shares a lovely bond with her daughter Penelope and often posts her photographs on social media. While Verstappen does share a few moments with Kelly on the sidelines.

Kvyat, however, isn’t an active participant in the paddock as things stand. His F1 career is also at a standstill since he last raced in 2020 for AlphaTauri (renamed from Toro Rosso). The 28-year-old was a reserve driver for Alpine in 2021, often seen in their garage.

Watch This Story: The Timeline of Kelly and Max’s relationship

Verstappen has now lit the F1 world alive with consecutive world championships. Is it lady luck for Max? Or just pure brilliance?