Max Verstappen uses strange analogy to describe his newborn child

compared his newborn daughter, Lily, to a 'packaged chicken at the supermarket' while describing the joy of holding his own offspring. His girlfriend, Kelly Piquet, gave birth ahead of the . Verstappen has been helping Piquet raise her first daughter, Penelope, who was born during her relationship with former Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat.

The Dutchman now has his own offspring to nurture after becoming a father earlier this weekend. Speaking to Viaplay about the experience of meeting his newborn daughter, Verstappen said: "Well, I have to say up until now, nice, of course. Yeah, she sleeps fairly well, so that helps, of course. But yeah, to see your own little child like that is very special.

"Look, like with my little sister, for example, you see the kids and you hold them, and that is already special. But when you're holding your own child, that's a step further." Asked if it was a surreal experience, he continued: "Yeah, in the beginning I felt like it was like a packaged chicken in the supermarket, so to speak... like the skin!"

While Verstappen now has new responsibilities as a father, rivals won't be profiting from a more cautious driver on the racetrack. The Dutchman stormed to pole position on Saturday with a blistering final lap, despite McLaren having the pace advantage earlier in the weekend.

"Clearly, it didn't make me slower being a dad, so that's a positive," the four-time world champion said after qualifying, setting the record straight. "So we can throw that out of the window as well, for people mentioning it.

"I don't really listen to these kind of silly things, I just do my thing. I think there are enough racing drivers in the past who have been world champions even after having kids. Honestly, I don't know where this has even come from."

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner suggested that Lily's birth may have even given Verstappen a small boost heading into the Miami race weekend. "As you can see, he is walking a step higher in becoming a father, and welcoming a beautiful little girl into the world," he told Sky Sports F1.

"That is a massive thing for him, and as we see time and time again when he crosses that line into the garage and puts his crash helmet on, everything disappears. His ability to focus and just deliver is insane; it is really, truly impressive.

Like any great sportsman or woman, it is those big pressure moments, it is that last set of tires when the pressure is at its most extreme, where he has delivered time and time again. Max is a master at that; he's always been like that under pressure."