Max Verstappen's girlfriend Kelly Piquet shares Ms Rachel's statement criticising former US president Barack Obama

Max Verstappen's partner, Kelly Piquet, reshared a statement from Rachel Griffin Accurso, criticizing former US President Barack Obama for his statement on the "Israeli families." The statement from Ms. Rachel claimed that Obama's language was "dehumanizing."

Shortly after the ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hamas was announced, former US President Barack Obama shared a statement, discussing the possible end of the war, which claimed over 67,000 lives in the past two years. His statement read:

"After two years of unimaginable loss and suffering for Israeli families and the people of Gaza, we should all be encouraged and relieved that an end to the conflict is within sight," his post on X read.

However, children's YouTuber, Rachel Griffin Accurso, popularly known as @msrachelforlittles on Instagram, shared a statement criticizing what Obama wrote on the social media platform. She claimed that his mention of "Israeli families" and "people of Gaza" was "dehumanizing."

This post was later reshared by Max Verstappen's partner, Kelly Piquet, on her Instagram, without any comments.

Kelly Piquet reshares Ms Rachel's criticism of former US President's statement (@kellypiquet on Instagram)

Kelly Piquet has remained an active voice on social media, spreading awareness about the condition of the people living in the Gaza region during the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Thousands of people, including children, lost their lives in the past two years because of the conflict. She has posted these things regularly on her Instagram stories in the past two years.

Meanwhile, her partner, Max Verstappen, has been on the run to clinch his fifth consecutive Formula 1 World Championship, but he hasn't been the dominating driver this year, owing to McLaren's massive performance improvement.

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Max Verstappen suggests Mercedes could set the benchmark for engine performance in the 2026 F1 season

The 2026 F1 season will witness the new engine and aerodynamic regulations, marking the beginning of a new era of the sport. These changes in the regulations will be a blank canvas for all teams, and are hence expected to shuffle the grid in terms of competitiveness.

With major changes going into the engine, a bigger battery that will account for 50% of the engine power, it will be crucial for the suppliers to make the most reliable and powerful PUs.

It is understood that not all the suppliers would be equally good. Red Bull Racing will end its partnership with Honda and work on its own power units with Ford, which, Max Verstappen feels, might not be the strongest force.

"Next year will not be easy, with our own engine, of course. It’s a new risk for Red Bull. But they also took that risk when they entered Formula 1, and they didn’t do badly," he said.

Moreover, he feels that Mercedes could once again have the most powerful engines on the grid, like they did in the 2014 season. This was the time when the current engines were introduced.

"I think Mercedes will be in the lead [in 2026]. They’re still there and strong, they’re atop company. So I think they’ll be in the lead, especially when it comes to the engine."

Max Verstappen currently sits in third place in the Drivers' Championship, with a 63-point gap to the leader, Oscar Piastri. With just six races remaining in the season, it is seemingly a challenging task for him to clinch the title this year.

Edited by Gunaditya Tripathi