Max Verstappen says fatherhood changed his priorities

Max Verstappen says becoming a father has changed his outlook away from an all-consuming racing routine, with the four-time Formula 1 world champion now placing more importance on getting home after race weekends to spend time with his daughter Lily.

A year after Lily was born to Verstappen and Kelly Piquet in May 2025, the Red Bull driver told People at the Red Bull Energy Station in Miami that life at home has taken on greater weight alongside his Formula 1 career. “For me, it’s just very nice to be able to spend time together now,” Verstappen said. “And besides that, racing is fun, it’s great, but it’s also nice to be at home.”

He said fatherhood has brought a clear shift in priorities rather than any shock to his routine. “I know what I want. I know that I also want to take time for myself and now, after a race weekend, you naturally try to go home and probably give that a bit more priority than before,” Verstappen said.

Verstappen said there have been “no real surprises” since Lily’s birth, but described family life as deeply rewarding. “I just love it,” he said. “She seems to like me a lot, so that’s good.” He added that the time they spend together at home is “really very cute.”

That change has also altered the way he sees his own family story in racing. Verstappen said that since becoming a father, he better understands what the journey through motorsport must have felt like from a parent’s perspective, calling it “probably even more nerve-racking” than living it as a driver.

For a driver whose schedule still stretches across Formula 1 weekends and racing commitments beyond the championship, the shift matters because it marks a move from racing-first intensity toward a more deliberate balance between the paddock and home life.