Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen announced at the final race of the 2024 Formula 1 season that he’s going to become a father.
Verstappen and his partner Kelly Piquet shared the news in Abu Dhabi after another phenomenal campaign for the Dutch driver.
The Red Bull driver is one of the most experienced racers on the grid, despite being just 27 years old.
Fernando Alonso made his Formula 1 debut before seven drivers on next year’s grid were born, highlighting the gulf in age in the sport heading into 2025.
Verstappen’s child will have some incredible racing genes, with Piquet’s father Nelson a three-time world champion.
However, speaking to Marca, Juan Pablo Montoya has addressed whether becoming a father will impact how Verstappen races in Formula 1.
There’s a myth that F1 drivers don’t push their cars to the limit once they become parents.
Verstappen is only getting faster according to his dad Jos and it’s hard to disagree right now.
However, Montoya believes the opposite is true due to his experience of having his son Sebastian, who is preparing for his first Formula 2 campaign in 2025.
Juan Pablo Montoya tells Max Verstappen why he’ll be faster after becoming a father
It was put to Montoya that F1 drivers lose two-tenths of a second per lap when they become a parent, but he dismissed this and said: “To tell you the truth, in my case, it was the other way around.
“When I had Sebastian, it helped me a lot because when you have a difficult day, one of those that makes you bitter and ruins your day, one of those that doesn’t let you sleep, you get home, you see the baby and you can disconnect from the bad things.
“If you’re running and thinking about what risks you’re taking, that definitely shouldn’t be your profession.
READ MORE: Juan Pablo Montoya names Max Verstappen’s closest rival in F1 right now
“And for me, I never took a crazy risk like that and people thought I was crazy… that I would do anything.
“I wanted to win, and to win I would do anything but I never thought ‘I’m going to throw myself over here and suddenly I’ll kill myself’.
“No, and I never had any hard accidents, one is against the world but ‘bah’ that’s part of the profession, you have to be comfortable hitting yourself.”
Max Verstappen is confident becoming a father won’t impact his Formula 1 career
Verstappen spoke in Abu Dhabi about the good news and said, via Autosport: “Honestly I have done it already, so it is not like it is completely new for me.
“Now it is my DNA, let’s say it like that, but I think it is absolutely fine and I know the baby will be in good hands anyway. So for me, you focus on your racing and then go back to your family.”
Piquet previously had a child with former Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat, meaning he already has experience looking after a child.
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Verstappen is racking up F1 penalty points and has already joked that he would try and earn a one-race ban when the baby is born to take some de-facto parenting leave.
It’s hard to imagine anything slowing Verstappen down given the way he’s driven in Formula 1 in the last decade.
However, the 27-year-old has made it clear that F1 isn’t the be-all and end-all of his career, and so he’s unlikely to try and match Alonso’s longevity regardless of his parental status.
