"Bro is a mermaid": Fans react to Max Verstappen's day out with girlfriend Kelly Piquet

F1 fans were left reeling after Red Bull driver Max Verstappen was spotted enjoying his day out with his girlfriend, Kelly Piquet. It has been a solid start to the 2025 season for the Dutch driver despite him sitting P3 in the driver standings behind the McLaren duo of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.

The reigning four-time F1 world champion has been arguably one of the drivers of the year as he has consistently extracted performance out of a tricky RB21 and challenged the likes of Piastri and Norris in the main races.

However, the last three weekends have been tough for Max Verstappen as he has only secured one podium and lost ground in the championship battle. Ahead of the all-important Austrian GP next weekend, he was spotted enjoying his weekend off with his family. The 27-year-old could be seen enjoying his time with Kelly Piquet and her daughter Penelope Kvyat on the water in St. Tropez.

F1 fans took to social media to give their reactions to Max Verstappen's day out with his girlfriend on his yacht on X, with one fan saying:

"Bro is a mermaid." "Guess Kelly's swim lessons paid off lol." "Imagine Max Verstappen having better balance on a surfboard than his RB21."

Here are some more reactions:

"This pic is frying me because kelly and p looked very photo ready and then BAM goes through max verstappen with his f**k ass life jacket," said a fan. "He can only drive a car, that's exactly what I want," wrote a fan. "They love St Tropez. It's so beautiful there," claimed another.

The upcoming Austrian GP will also be the final race before Max Verstappen's two penalty points of his 11 expire, which would release some pressure from a potential ban from his shoulders.

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F1 pundit chimes in on Max Verstappen's "authenticity" during Ted Kravitz row

F1 pundit Peter Hardenacke stated that he found the Red Bull driver to be authentic in his controversial interaction with Sky Sports F1 reporter Ted Kravitz during the 2025 Canadian Grand Prix last weekend.

While appearing on Sky Germany's Backstage Boxengasse podcast, Hardenacke said:

"I think [English] media are sometimes very harsh and direct in their questions. Max unmasked him: 'What do you want now? Do you want me to blame one man? Because I don't. We work differently on this team.'" "I really appreciate that about Max, he is so clear and keeps eye contact all the time. I think that's what makes him so unique. If you talk about authenticity, he is one of the most authentic people in the paddock."

Verstappen had a tense interview with Kravitz when the latter asked about Stephen Knowles's role in the Spanish GP incident involving the former and George Russell.

Edited by Mitali