Max Verstappen News: F1 champion's partner Kelly Piquet SLAMS FIA for treatment at Brazilian GP

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Kelly Piquet SLAMS FIA for Verstappen treatment at Brazilian GP

Kelly Piquet has voiced her support for her partner

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 3 November 2024 23:12

Kelly Piquet has slammed the FIA for their treatment of her partner Max Verstappen at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Up until qualifying, it was a nightmare weekend for the Dutchman in Sao Paulo, who initially received a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race after making an engine change.

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Verstappen came home third in Saturday’s sprint, however he was hit with a five-second penalty for failing to stay above the minimum time set by the FIA ECU during the Virtual Safety Car ending.

The FIA’s decision dropped Verstappen down to P4, but the Red Bull star’s woes did not end in the sprint.

Max Verstappen was knocked out of Q2 in Sao Paulo

Max Verstappen was left furious in Sao Paulo

Max Verstappen’s feud with the FIA continues

Qualifying in Brazil was pushed back to Sunday due to heavy rainfall, and the F1 grid once again had to tackle the tricky conditions.

The session saw a record five red flags thrown, with Lance Stroll’s crash at the end of Q2 proving pivotal to Verstappen’s weekend.

However, the stewards waited around 45 seconds to stop the session, with the champion unable to complete his lap and was knocked out of qualifying in P12, which, due to his engine penalty, resulted in P16 start on the grid.

“The car hits the wall, it needs to be a straight red,” Verstappen said to Sky Sports after qualifying.

“I don’t understand why it needs to take 30, 40 seconds for a red flag to come out. It’s just b*******.

“Why does it not happen straight away? Honestly, I let it go. It’s so stupid to talk about, it’s ridiculous.”

Not only was Verstappen left incensed with the delay, but so was his partner Kelly Piquet who took to her Instagram stories to slam the FIA.

“Waiting 40 seconds to put out the red flag 👏👏👏 well done FIA,” she wrote alongside a picture of Verstappen appearing miserable after his session ended early.

“waiting 40 seconds to put out the red flag 👏👏👏 well done FIA”

kelly on her IG story pic.twitter.com/KOkyRYixR4
— nini (@SCUDERIAFEMBOY) November 3, 2024

Verstappen though did end the weekend on a much greater high, after triumphing from 17th place on the grid to put one hand on a fourth consecutive F1 title.

Red Bull Max Verstappen FIA Brazilian Grand Prix Kelly Piquet