Formula 1 News: Max Verstappen’s jet finally lands in Miami (Update)

27-year-old Four-time F1 World Driving Champion Max Verstappen and Kelly Piquet have announced the birth of their baby, Lily

(GMM) Max Verstappen’s $50 million personal jet left the Nice, France Airport yesterday afternoon and landed in Miami Thursday night after the star missed ‘media day’ ahead of this weekend’s Grand Prix of Miami Formula 1 race.

Red Bull told specialist media attending the street circuit that the quadruple world champion would not be present on Thursday as his girlfriend Kelly “is expecting a baby”.

One of those journalists then asked Nico Hulkenberg what it felt like to no longer be the only father on the grid – implying that the child, reportedly a girl, was already born.

“You know that for a fact?” the Sauber driver responded.

Actually, it is still not known if the baby has actually been born yet. Red Bull sources recently whispered that Kelly’s due date was actually May 6.

Bild newspaper and other publications then reported that Verstappen’s private plane took off from Nice (France), not far from his Monaco residence, at 4pm on Thursday.

Red Bull reassured media that “all is well” and that the 27-year-old driver, who is third in the championship behind the McLarens, will practice on Friday and then contest the full race weekend.

“We will not be offering any further comment at this time in respect towards the privacy of Max and his family,” a spokesman said.

One reporter asked Gabriel Bortoleto, one of Verstappen’s closest friends on the grid, if he had any insider knowledge about the birth.

“No, I haven’t spoken to him in the last few days,” said the Brazilian.

“What I am sure of is that fatherhood will not change anything for him as a driver. I am sure that he will not drive slower,” Bortoleto, 20, added. “He will probably be faster,” the Sauber driver laughed.

“His mentality will not change. He will continue on the same path.”

As for how Verstappen will fare on track this weekend, team advisor Dr Helmut Marko is concerned it will not be as competitive an outing as was Saudi Arabia a fortnight ago.

“We expect the conditions to be more favorable to McLaren,” he told Speed Week.

“Our task at the moment is to develop a broader working window for our car and also to work on reducing certain weaknesses of the car before the European races and thus improving the car’s basic speed.”