Max Verstappen has been working with Christian Horner as his team principal for almost his entire F1 career so far. But even Horner couldn’t recognize Verstappen’s imitation of a duck when the Red Bull ace prank-called him at the Monaco GP last year. Horner, who couldn’t recognize Verstappen, also asked him to tell the marketing people that they were all fired.
Verstappen is the most dominant driver in F1 at the moment. On the track, the media portrays him as a ruthless and ultra-aggressive competitor. However, over the last few months, videos and pictures of what Verstappen is like away from F1 have been going viral. These are particularly fun to watch because Verstappen seems to have a very different personality when he is not suited up for a race.
April Fool’s Day 🤪
Hope you didn’t get caught out, like the time we got @Max33Verstappen! 📲 https://t.co/KTgA6XUT0V#AprilFoolsDay | #C4F1 | #F1 pic.twitter.com/BYwCNrazro
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The beforementioned prank, however, was a part of Red Bull’s marketing event. It took place at the 2022 Monaco GP weekend, and Verstappen and Horner’s reaction to it was absolutely hilarious.
Max Verstappen makes “quack quack” noises on call with Christian Horner
Max Verstappen was standing near the famous Red Bull swimming pool in Monaco which had rubber ducks floating around. The Red Bull marketing team was filming a promotional video, and they came up with an idea on the spot, asking Verstappen to call Horner up and make duck noises.
Verstappen couldn’t believe what they were asking him to do, and Sergio Perez standings near him and saying, “You’re gonna get fired”, didn’t calm the Dutchman’s nerves down. Regardless, he went ahead and made the phone call. “Quack, quack, quack,” were the exact noises Verstappen made before immediately cutting the call. Verstappen and everyone present on the spot couldn’t control their laughter when he made that particular noise.
Just a few seconds later, however, he realized that he had to call Horner up and explain what just happened. At first, when his boss didn’t pick up the call, Verstappen got worried, but he was soon able to go through.
“I’m so sorry,” Verstappen began. “But we’re doing with marketing. Probably you employed them. But I had to do a duck noise. And I had to call you as a challenge.”
Sergio Perez and Horner ask Verstappen to “fire them all”
Perez was not directly involved in this prank made sure he played his part all right. The Mexican driver seemed to stick with the “fire them” joke, as he asked Verstappen to tell Horner to fire the Red Bull marketing team.
Horner probably heard what Perez had to say. When Verstappen asked if the employees are all fired, Horner replied, “Exactly, tell them they’re all fired.”
This entire segment was a hilarious joke orchestrated by Red Bull’s famed marketing team. Of course, Horner didn’t quite understand what was going on until Verstappen explained it to him. After knowing the premise, Horner too, seemed to appreciate the duck noises that Verstappen managed to make.
