Verstappen Dismisses Rumours About Heated Relationship With Race Engineer Lambiase
F1Saturday, 28 October 2023 at 07:00
Max Verstappen's communication with his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, came under the spotlight once again at the 2023 United States Grand Prix.
Almost no other sport offers such an insight into the athlete's minds as F1 does. In every race, we get to hear exactly what drivers think, as they communicate directly with their race engineers through radio, which fans in front of the TV get to hear.
As a result, also many heated moments get broadcast and often are the cause of different conversations between fans. One such moment happened at the 2023 United States Grand Prix, which was won by Verstappen.
Despite winning ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who was later disqualified, Red Bull's leading driver struggled with his break for the majority of the race, needing much more focus then usually to break correctly.
Also because of that, Verstappen lashed out at his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, a couple of times, as the Italian-British race engineer talked to him while the Flying Dutchman was braking.
Because of that, the three-time World Champion, known for his temperamental, told GP (Lambiase's nickname) to not talk to him during breaking, while using also a few not-so-nice words.
Of course, the moment became one of the most-discussed moments of the race at the Circuit of the Americas, but Verstappen immediately explained it ahead of the 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix, saying that the two get along well.
"We always get along very well. Of course, in the heat of the moment, I let him know that I wasn’t very happy that he was talking under the braking."
On top of that, when addressing the Dutch driver after the race, Lambiase said "see you on Friday," seemingly hinting that he won't be joining Verstappen's post-race celebrations.
That made fans speculate even more, but those rumours were quickly debunked by the 2023 Formula One World Drivers' Championship leader, who explained that his race engineer had to catch flight home, something that was planned prior to the race.
"The race was done, and he had to catch a flight already, on the in lap, back home, so he said I’ll see you Friday and people then said oh he’s very p*****d off. Whatever, we always get on well."
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