Max Verstappen responded to what Zak Brown spoke recently, comparing him to a "horror movie" villain and the Dutchman joked that the team could call him 'Chucky', as the fight for the 2025 title of the Formula 1 will take place in Abu Dhabi.
At the press conference following his victory in Qatar, the defending champion was asked about comments from McLaren Racing's CEO, who compared the driver to a horror film character who "keeps coming back".
"You can call me Chucky," he laughed. "I don't know, I mean, I saw it too, I thought it was pretty funny."
"For my part, I just focus on myself. I know when I get in the car, I try to do my best, like I think everyone does. It's the only thing I can control, right? And it's the only thing I focus on."
Verstappen's victory came after McLaren did not call its drivers to the pits during the safety car entry, triggered by contact between Nico Hulkenberg and Pierre Gasly. While the rest of the grid stopped to change tires, the pair remained on the track, falling out of sync with the rest of the field.
This left them vulnerable, and eventually Piastri dropped from first to second, while Norris plummeted from third to fourth.
Brown's previous comments were therefore not far from the truth, with him calling the decision not to pit a "big mistake" that cost his team a victory and probably a double podium, while Verstappen managed to capitalize on this poor strategy.
The Dutchman is now just 12 points behind the championship leader as they prepare for Abu Dhabi, but despite this he insists he is calm.
"I'm a lot more relaxed now. I know I'm 12 points behind. I go on the track with positive energy, I try everything, but even if I don't win, I know I've had an incredible season. So it doesn't really matter," he said. "It takes a lot of pressure off. I'm just there having fun, like today."
"I started today thinking, 'Let's see how it goes. I know that when I'm in the car, I always do my best and that's what I'm going to try to do in Abu Dhabi as well. But at the same time, I know that we probably need to rely on some external factors to be successful."
"But a race like today shows that we think it's going to be boring and easy. It's not, so I hope Abu Dhabi will be similar."
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