Max Verstappen has told Zak Brown to call him "Chucky" after the McLaren CEO likened the reigning champion's persistence in this year's title race to a villain in a horror movie.
Brown made the analogy ahead of this weekend's Qatar Grand Prix while describing Verstappen's ability to stay in contention in the title race -- comments that now seem prophetic after the Red Bull driver won Sunday's race to move into second place in the standings.
"He's like that guy in a horror movie, that right as you think he's not coming back, he's back!" Brown said.
Verstappen's victory in Qatar means he is now Lando Norris' closest title rival, just 12 points behind the McLaren driver ahead of next weekend's season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Asked what he thought of Brown's quotes and whether he felt as though he was in the heads of McLaren's team leadership Verstappen referenced the famous horror movie franchise Child's Play and its death-defying lead character.
"He can call me Chucky!" Verstappen joked. "I don't know. I saw it [Brown's comments] as well. I thought it was quite funny.
"From my side, I just focus on myself. I know that when I go in the car, I just try to do the best -- like, I guess, everyone does.
"But, yeah, that's the only thing I can control, right? And that's the only thing I focus on."
The reigning champion's victory in Qatar was aided by McLaren blundering its strategy when it opted not to pit its cars during an early safety car period.
The result means Verstappen's most straightforward route to a fifth world title is to win the final race in Abu Dhabi with Norris finishing fourth or lower.
Asked how he would approach the final race of the season, Verstappen said: "I hope that we start the weekend well, let's say like that -- that would help a lot," Verstappen said. "I think on pure pace, it will be tough, but a race like today also shows that it's not always straightforward, a Grand Prix, and a lot of things can happen.
"So I'm probably relying a little bit on that."