Only six drivers have become Formula 1 world champions after becoming fathers – will Max Verstappen be the seventh?
Max Verstappen is a father! On Friday, the Dutchman announced that his partner Kelly Piquet had given birth to their daughter Lily. The once-common cliché that racing drivers slow down after the birth of a child has now been thoroughly disproved in practice.
However, only a few drivers in the history of Formula 1 have managed to become world champions as fathers. Should Verstappen add a fifth title to his four World Championship titles, he would be only the seventh driver to join this exclusive club.
These are the other six drivers who have been crowned Formula 1 world champions after the birth of a child.
Graham Hill
When Graham Hill won the South African Grand Prix in 1962 and secured his first Formula 1 world championship title, he already had two children with his wife Bette. Brigitte was the eldest, and son Damon (more on him later) was just two years old when his father won the title. Daughter Samantha was born before Hill won his second title with Lotus.
Tragically, however, Hill was unable to see his children grow up – he died in a plane crash in 1975.
Nelson Piquet
Brazilian Nelson Piquet had already won two Formula 1 titles (1981 and 1983) before becoming a father. Geraldo and Nelson Piquet Jr. were born after that – the latter went on to race in Formula 1 himself – before Piquet clinched his third title in 1987.
Piquet later had four more children, including Kelly, who is now Max Verstappen’s partner.
Nigel Mansell
Mansell narrowly lost the 1986 title battle to Piquet, but finally won his first and only world championship seven years later. By this time, the Briton already had a daughter, Chloe, and two sons, Leo and Greg. Both later became racing drivers themselves. Mansell retired after his world championship season, but returned in 1994 for Williams and drove two more races for McLaren in 1995.
Damon Hill
Do you remember his father Graham? Damon followed in his footsteps and became the first son of a Formula 1 world champion to also win a world title. After finishing second behind Michael Schumacher in 1994 and 1995, Hill finally clinched the title with Williams in 1996.
His children Oliver, Josh, and Tabitha were already born before he claimed the crown. His daughter Rosie was born in 1998, just six months before Hill’s last Formula 1 victory for Jordan at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Michael Schumacher
The German had already won his first two titles with Benetton (1994 and 1995) before becoming a father. His daughter Gina-Maria was born in 1997, followed by his son Mick in 1999, who later competed in Formula 1 himself. This marked the beginning of Schumacher’s dominant Ferrari era: between 2000 and 2004, he won five titles in a row.
After retiring for the first time in 2006, he returned with Mercedes in 2010 and drove until 2012. A year later, he suffered serious head injuries in a skiing accident and has since lived a secluded life with his family.
Nico Rosberg
Rosberg is the son of 1982 Formula 1 world champion Keke Rosberg, but was not born until 1985, which is why Keke does not appear on this list. Nico became a father to his daughter Alaia in 2015. A year later, he defeated his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in a legendary title duel.
After winning the 2016 world championship, Rosberg retired and has since worked as an investor and TV expert, among other things. His second daughter, Naila, was born in 2017.