“Intense Dynamic” Between Max Verstappen and His Race Engineer Brought to Light After Heated Miami GP Argument

The calm soothing voice of Gianpiero Lambiase on the ears of Max Verstappen during F1 races has become something F1 fans are used to now. Lambiase has been Verstappen’s race engineer throughout the latter’s F1 career. The relationship they have developed both on and off the track is strong, and Lambiase plays a huge role in fueling Verstappen’s success.

Verstappen is a tough character to deal with during races. He is demanding, critical of all mechanical aspects of his car, and tends to lose his head due to factors around him that he cannot control. In those moments, Lambiase, who is the 25-year-old’s point of contact, helps him keep his mind focused on the race.

Even though Verstappen is difficult to deal with, Lambiase seems to do a great job which helps both the Dutchman and Red Bull. According to team principal Christian Horner, Lambiase behaves more like a driver than Verstappen himself does.

Lambiase is not afraid to speak his mind to Max Verstappen

Having someone like Lambiase as a race engineer has helped Verstappen reach unprecedented levels of success in his career. One of the reasons why they work so well together, and why Verstappen listens to him, is that he isn’t afraid to speak his mind to the two-time world champion.

At the 2023 Miami GP, an incident between the two sparked rumors about tension within the team. Verstappen was asking Lambiase about the setup of his car during the race because he felt something was wrong. A frustrated Lambiase asked Verstappen to focus on driving and leave everything else to him.

Max Verstappen couldn’t hide his frustration again in #MiamiGP practice with an X-rated radio message as he suffered from the same problem which caught the FIA’s attention last weekend in Baku 🤬🎙👀 https://t.co/Ht3brASxeu pic.twitter.com/e0cjG8YWVk

— Mirror F1 (@MirrorF1) May 6, 2023

Horner, however, insists that what Lambiase said was just an example of how the two of them work together. He insists that there’s nothing wrong between them. As quoted by The Express, Horner explained the “intense dynamic” between Max Verstappen and Lambiase-

“GP is simply not afraid to speak his mind. The dynamic between the two is so intense that in between you have to ask yourself who is supposed to be the driver and who is supposed to be the engineer here.”

Verstappen and Lambiase are inseparable

Lambiase was originally the race engineer of Daniil Kvyat, who was the Red Bull driver Verstappen replaced midway into the 2016 season. When Kvyat was demoted back to Toro Rosso, Lambiase stayed behind as the race engineer for Verstappen. They went on to create an inseparable bond, and a strong working relationship.

Gianpiero Lambiase to Helmut Marko, after he heard Max never wants to work with another Engineer.. 😅#F1 #MaxVerstappen #GivesYouWings pic.twitter.com/EeTLg0Ggoe

— Racing (Commentary) (@Racingnews2015) December 22, 2021

In fact, there were times when Verstappen described his relationship with Lambiase as a ‘marriage’. The Dutch driver claimed that both of them shouted at each other, but at the end of the day, things were always fine between them.