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By Billie Schwab Dunn
Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter
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Max Verstappen's girlfriend has been slammed online after a video was uploaded of her daughter sitting in the corner of a boat.
The 2023 world champion has been dating Kelly Piquet, the daughter of three-time F1 world champion Nelson Piquet, since 2020. Before the couple went public with their relationship, Piquet dated F1 racer Daniil Kvyat, with whom she had a daughter named Penelope in 2019.
Piquet regularly attends race weekends to support Verstappen, who previously revealed he had a good relationship with his girlfriend's daughter.
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Now Piquet is facing vitriol online after a video was shared of her, Verstappen, and friends on a boat. Piquet can be seen sitting in between Verstappen and an unknown woman while Penelope sits in the corner of the vessel.
The clip was uploaded to TikTok by user @povkellypiqeue on Monday, an account dedicated to sharing videos that criticize Piquet. The text on the footage reads: "p is almost out of the boat and all she can focus on is Max and making content. At least Max and the other lady are making sure p is alright [frowning emoji]."
Adding more fuel to the fire is the caption, which states: "'tiktok' was very quick to delete this one but here we go again. how can she care so little about her own child? this makes me feel bad for women who dream of being mothers but can't. some people take this for granted and kelly is one of them."
At the time of writing, the video had been viewed 937,600 times.
Newsweek emailed a Piquet for comment Tuesday.
The clip was later shared to X (formerly Twitter) by user @graziericciardo, who wrote: "No way [crying emoji] why is P at the end of the boat that's so terrifying? She should've been at least between k and max..." The post has been viewed 1.9 million times.
"Thats so unsafe omg? Even if it was her request, her guardian should've been at least been HOLDING ON TO HER," a different X user commented.
"What I'm saying, like, little girl looks like she's about to fly off," said another.
Someone else added: "Girlie's holding on for dear life."
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However, others stood up for Piquet and explained that the position was actually the safest spot for Penelope to be sitting.
"Her spot is stable to sit on, she's between two adults, she's been on boats since she was little. You're seeing few seconds of video and jump in to call her a bad mom and that she just cares about her hair. This is her CHILD she wouldn't put her in danger," a different X user wrote.
"Y'all must not have ever been on a boat. This isn't dangerous, she's not about to fly off. The only thing I'll agree with is that all of them, including P, should be wearing life jackets," said another.
"TBH [to be honest] if she were to fly off she would too if she was near Max. The end of the boat it´s a little easier to hold on too, since she doesn´t have to brace for lateral movement," a third person wrote.
A fourth added: "That's the least bumpy spot on a boat. That's the safest place for her."
Verstappen previously told Time Magazine that he gets on well with Penelope, but also said he doesn't plan on taking on the role of her father figure.
"I'm not the father, that's not the aim. It's always very important that she has a good relationship with her own father, which she has," he said.
"But I see her every day when I'm at home. We get on very well. She's very cute."
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