Geri Horner and Kelly Piquet steal the show as they join Christian Horner and Max Verstappen at plush FIA Awards
GERI HORNER and Kelly Piquet attended last night’s FIA Awards alongside their partners at a glitzy bash in Kigali, Rwanda.
The pair joined Christian Horner and Max Verstappen as they celebrated the latter’s latest Formula 1 world title.
Last night’s bash saw stars of the sport don their tuxedos for an evening of celebrations.
Piquet, who announced that she is pregnant earlier this month, wore a stunning black gown for the event.
Geri, meanwhile, went for an elegant white dress.
Verstappen also posed for pictures with colleagues Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc, who came second and third in this season’s championship respectively.
Norris’ McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri was also present in Kigali as his team celebrated winning the constructor’s championship.
After collecting his world drivers’ trophy, Verstappen reflected on 2024 before looking forward to the year ahead.
The 27-year-old said: “This season as you could see was quite up and down.
“We had a great start to the year, everything was looking great. I think especially from the outside, of course, as a team you always understand your limitations and what you want to work on.
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“The competition did a great job, they improved their cars a lot and made it a lot more difficult for us – especially in the constructors’.
“We had a bit of a tough run in the middle of the season but even when we were under pressure, and having tough times, I think the team really stuck together.
“We didn’t panic, which could easily be done I think in those kinds of situations.
“At the end of the day I’m just very proud of everyone in the team as well. Of course we’re not standing here as constructors’ champions but, in a way, I do think we deserved a little bit more in that championship.
“I tried my very best and we also know a lot what we have to work on for next year. I’m very excited about that as well because it does look like it’s going to be a proper fight between a lot of teams.”
Not present was Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, who scored just 49 points between Week 7 and Week 24.
Asked about the Mexican’s potential replacement Liam Lawson, Horner said: “I think Liam, in challenging circumstances, has done a very good job. If you analyse what he’s done in the time that he’s had and the race pace he’s had, I think he’s done a good job.
“I think Yuki’s (Tsunoda) done a good job, so in the event that anything were decided with Checo (Perez) they would be the candidates we would look towards.”