Max Verstappen Concedes He Was Wrong After Having a Minor Disagreement With His Race Engineer

Max Verstappen Concedes He Was Wrong After Having a Minor Disagreement With His Race Engineer

During the Japanese GP, Max Verstappen’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, came onto the team radio comms with a bizarre message, leading to fans speculating if the duo had a disagreement before the race. Post-race, Verstappen clarified to veteran F1 journalist Tom Clarkson that while he agrees there was a difference of opinion, it was he who was actually in the wrong.

Verstappen was quoted as revealing, “We had a, er well not an argument, but he was like, “Are you sure you want to do this?” I’m like, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure”. [I] turned out to be wrong. So he was right.”

The “disagreement” was actually related to the set-up the Dutchman wanted to run for the race. The Suzuka International Circuit is known to be a rear-limited track with oversteering a common occurrence deeper into stints.

Generally, teams set the car up to understeer as an offset for tire grip loss into the race. However, Verstappen, as it turns out, wasn’t having any of those suggestions after a torrid struggle with understeer himself during the Australian GP weekend last time out.

Verstappen then went on to clarify that while the duo do have outbursts on the radio comms that are broadcasted for the world to see, they do indeed share a very good relationship independent of those moments. In the past, Verstappen and Lambiase have become infamous for their often tense and hilarious radio exchanges.

Max Verstappen has a “married couple” equation with Gianpiero Lambiase

Max Verstappen is known to be an aggressive and hard racer. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner also recognized this trait of his and believes that the #1 driver needs an equally strong counterpart on the pit wall to complement him.

While talking about the relationship the duo share, Horner had once labeled them as a “married couple” as quoted by PlanetSport. Interestingly, team advisor Helmut Marko made the same hilarious reference to their equation after their Japanese GP radio exchange. GPBlog quoted Marko as saying, “There was the old married couple again.”

Lambiase was actually brought into Red Bull to become Sebastian Vettel’s race engineer. However, as the German departed for Ferrari, Lambiase became Daniil Kvyat’s race engineer.

However, after a mid-season switch in 2016, Lambiase then became Verstappen’s engineer. They’ve been together since, winning 57 races, 101 podiums, and three world championships.

Post Edited By: Vidit Dhawan
Gianpiero Lambiase Max Verstappen Red Bull

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

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