The 2023 Singapore Grand Prix saw Max Verstappen lose his ten back-to-back winning streaks. As Carlos Sainz won at the Marina Bay Circuit race, it was all struggles for the Dutchman in the narrow street circuit for which he was critical and constructive in his approach last weekend. However, as per Formula1news, Christian Horner revealed that Verstappen took out his frustration on his engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, later on.
After winning ten races in a row and raking up 12 wins in 2023, Verstappen finally saw a defeat. Admittedly, this was also the first time that a non-Red Bull team won. The reason for this loss is attributed to the balance issues with the RB-19, for which the Dutchman had been very vocal all weekend.
A tough weekend in Singapore, but a solid recovery during the race today @redbullracing 👊
Onto Suzuka 🇯🇵👋 pic.twitter.com/G9gnHyZXAi
— Max Verstappen (@Max33Verstappen) September 17, 2023
For Verstappen, someone who is extremely hot-headed when things don’t go his way, it was surprising to see how composed he was while giving crucial feedback on the car’s balance. However, in the end, it was all on Lambiase, Verstappen’s race engineer.
Christian Horner revealed Verstappen’s ordeal against GP
As Verstappen saw his winning streak come to an end in Singapore, it was certainly not a sweet moment for him. Even though he was critical of his approach, there was a time when he vented it all out on Lambiase, his made-for-each-other partner.
Talking about this, Horner, who gave all permission regarding Verstappen to Lambiase, said to the Daily Mail, as reported by Formula1news, “Max was super clear last weekend, he was constructive in the debrief, he was constructive all week.”
Gianpiero Lambiase & Max Verstappen pic.twitter.com/dQ4pKo3YR5
— Muammer Kahraman (@Thekahraman24) September 1, 2023
Following this, he added, “He took his frustration out on the padel tennis courts with his engineers, beating GP which didn’t go down well!” Nevertheless, the Red Bull boss had all the praise for the two-time world champion as Verstappen came back to his usual avatar in Suzuka.
Max Verstappen took Red Bull right on top in Japan
The two practice sessions saw Max Verstappen top the sheet to put a signal to rivals in Japan. Coming into Suzuka, the Dutchman had some fine sessions nobody could come close to him.
The FP1 saw the 25-year-old have six-tenth clearance on top against P2 Carlos Sainz, and in FP2, he was again three-thousandths clear off Charles Leclerc, who was in P2.
Nevertheless, Max Verstappen is ready to go again as he found his mojo back in the RB-19. All in all, it is Verstappen who is leading Red Bull from the front and impressed his boss massively with his leadership skills.