Max Verstappen's girlfriend, Kelly Piquet, has shared a personal update on social media following drama in the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon.
Verstappen endured a disastrous Spanish Grand Prix weekend, plummeting to tenth place after receiving a ten-second time penalty for a clash with George Russell.
The Dutchman's collision with the Mercedes driver also earned him three penalty points, compounding his frustration at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
The world champion is now just one point away from an automatic one race ban.
Kelly Piquet and Max Verstappen at the Brazilian Grand Prix
Getty
The disappointing result marked a significant setback for Verstappen's championship aspirations.
Piquet shared a personal update on Instagram during the Spanish Grand Prix weekend about her recovery after giving birth to their daughter Lily.
The Brazilian model gave birth at the end of April to her first child with Verstappen, and her second daughter after Penelope.
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The couple announced the birth of daughter Lily via social media, with Piquet largely staying out of the spotlight since then.
Her Instagram story featured a video with the caption, "when your old self slowly starts coming back after giving birth", showing footage of a man doing a notable dance to indicate she is physically and mentally recovering after an intensive period.
Verstappen's weekend in Barcelona proved far from the competitive showing he needed to challenge the front-runners, with the penalty effectively destroying any chance of a strong points finish in Spain.
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His championship position has deteriorated further following his Barcelona struggles, with the McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris extending their advantage at the top of the standings.
Piastri, who won the Spanish Grand Prix, now leads the championship with Norris closely behind in second place.
Verstappen finds himself third but faces an increasingly difficult task to catch up to the leaders.
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Max Verstappen lost ground in his chase for the championship on SundayPAThe Dutchman must hope for better results in the upcoming races to bridge the growing gap to Piastri and Norris, who continue to capitalise on McLaren's strong form this season.
Verstappen was wrongly told that he needed to give back a position to Russell, adding to his exasperation during an already difficult race.
The Red Bull driver made his frustration abundantly clear over the team radio following the incident with Russell, particularly after receiving incorrect information from his team.
Following the miscommunication from his pit wall, Verstappen collided with the Mercedes driver, in a move that has been labelled as an "intentional retaliation" by former F1 world champion Nico Rosberg.
The clash resulted in a 10-second penalty that left Verstappen in 10th, and his championship hopes in tatters.
Verstappen has since taken responsibility for the manoeuvre, saying it was "a move that was not right and shouldn’t have happened".
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