Credits: IMAGO / PanoramiC and Kelly Piquet’s Instagram

Max Verstappen had a disastrous outing at the 2024 Australian Grand Prix after his car experienced brake heating issues. This prompted Penelope Kvyat, to ask him the reason for his retirement. To this, the Dutchman replied that his car was on fire. However, things were back to normal for Verstappen in Japan and this was of course, of utmost importance to him for Penelope’s sake.

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Penelope, also known as P, the daughter of Kelly Piquet, is often known for her lovely cameos during Verstappen’s simulation racing streams back at home, but this time she was present in Melbourne for the race, where the Red Bull star had his first retirement in 44 races.

Now, coming into Suzuka, the 26-year-old is glad that he did not have to retire early, that too in front of P, again. Penelope traveled with her mother Kelly to Suzuka to witness the race. In the end, she succeeded in seeing the Dutchman on the top step of the podium, and this was a big relief for the three-time world champion, to say the least.

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Explaining the ordeal, Verstappen said in an interview with Viaplay after the Suzuka International Racing Course race, “I think Kelly’s glad nothing happened today, because otherwise of course she [Penelope] might feel as if she brings bad luck!”

Following this, Verstappen also pointed out that it was beautiful to see P underneath the podium after his seamless victory at Suzuka, where he claimed his third win of the season so far.

Well, this is a part everyone can agree with, seeing the little P happy, to be fair. But moving on, the race win might have been crucial for Verstappen, and Piquet, but most importantly it was for Red Bull. The Milton Keynes team needed this victory to keep their hold on the championship lead.

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How important was the win in Japan for Max Verstappen and Red Bull?

After a forgettable journey to Australia where Max Verstappen had to retire early, and Sergio Perez barely managing P5, this blockbuster return to the top was absolutely a necessity for Red Bull.

As the Austrian team stumbled, Ferrari saw the opportunity and claimed their first 1-2 finish in two years in Melbourne and reduced their gap to the defending champions to just 4 points in the Constructors’. Carlos Sainz‘s win and Charles Leclerc’s P2 also brought the Prancing Horse forward as a genuine threat to Verstappen and Co.

However, the front row lockout in the Japanese GP qualifying and an equally good 1-2 finish in the race shifted the momentum back in Red Bull’s favor.

For now, the Milton-Keynes-based team are absolute favorites to take home the 2024 Constructors’ Championship, but they still need to keep Ferrari under check on tracks like Monaco and Singapore where the Scarlet cars could be relatively faster in low-speed corners.