Max Verstappen will become a dad this year (Image: Getty)
Red Bull technical adviser has joked about signing the not-yet-born child of Formula One star . The four-time Formula One world champion revealed in November that his girlfriend Kelly Piquet is expecting their first child.
Verstappen has been dominant in F1 since winning his first world title in 2021. He has subsequently won four consecutive championships and is the strong favourite to land a fifth next year.
The 27-year-old’s father, Jos, won titles in other motorsports. Genetics would suggest that the unborn Verstappen might be a talented driver when they grow up.
have tried to sign the most talented young drivers to their academy. Marko quipped that the child could have ‘potential’.
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The Austrian told : “It’s a bit far-fetched. But if the grandfather is a triple world champion and the father is a four-time world champion, then there should be some potential in terms of genes.
“But we still don’t know whether it will be a boy or a girl, which ultimately doesn’t matter. Fast women are also in demand.”
Next year is set to be a busy one for Verstappen. He will welcome his first child and also bid to win a fifth consecutive world championship. Only three drivers in the sport’s history have more titles than the Dutchman.
Verstappen hopes to win many more but is wary of sweeping regulation changes that are set to come into play in 2026.
Helmut Marko was asked about the yet-to-be-born Verstappen signing for Red Bull (Image: Getty)
“It’s something that as a kid growing up, you don’t think about these things,” he told Formula One’s website. “You look at the names and think ‘wow, that’s really impressive’ and hope one day you can be on the podium.
“Sometimes you get lucky in life, you are in the right place at the right time. Of course, as a driver you need to take advantage of that and luckily I’ve been able to do that at the same time.
“It’s amazing – four titles is definitely incredible. Of course, I also hope it doesn’t stop here and I hope that we can be successful for a longer period of time. You already could see this year the competition is very close.
“But then again in ’26, a lot is going to change and maybe some other teams are going to be competitive again. For the moment I think it’s very important to just enjoy the moment, be proud of what we’ve achieved as a team, and we’ll try again next year.”