Max Verstappen has no regrets about having fiery exchanges with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. The Dutchman believes that this is a candid reflex while racing and it happens out of an adrenaline rush. Therefore, he barely cares about what others think about the radio messages as he went on to partially blame Formula 1 for broadcasting them. This comes a day after his teammate Sergio Perez accused him of contributing to Lambiase’s baldness.
Verstappen said in an exclusive interview with Autosport, “It’s also a bit F1’s fault because they broadcast everything just to throw it out there. They don’t need to broadcast it – if you know what I mean. So, I guess they also like the excitement coming out.”
Notably, Perez has recently put the blame on Verstappen for making Lambiase go bald, because of their fiery radio exchanges. This took place when the Red Bull duo reacted to their old tweets in a video on YouTube.
While they were reacting to their posts, they came across a tweet that showed Perez with Lambiase. Lambiase was Perez’s race engineer when they both were in Force India. Seeing the picture, the Mexican driver commented, “See! See how much hair he has.”
Following this, Verstappen joked that after Lambiase became his engineer, there amount of pressure increased. This prompted Perez to joke, “You finished him!” Jokes apart, Verstappen and Lambiase’s radio exchanges are a mega hit among fans.
Max Verstappen and Lambiase, a pair made for each other
While Max Verstappen and Gianpiero Lambiase share an amicable relationship, their radio exchanges mid-race can sometimes deceive fans. There are multiple instances where the duo hits out at each other during races.
The Dutchman once lashed out at his race engineer for talking during the braking zone. He remarked, “Please no talking, I’m in the braking,” during the 2023 United States Grand Prix at Austin.
In another instance, Lambiase asked the Red Bull driver to follow his instructions and use “his head” a bit more while racing. All in all, there are multiple examples, and their exchanges are not one sided by any means.
Their relationship is so strong and so popular that team principal Christian Horner once called them an old couple. Furthermore, their “hot” bonding also prompted Lewis Hamilton to say that Verstappen is under a lot of pressure when he appears to be swearing on the team radio.
Nevertheless, Max Verstappen and Gianpiero Lambiase both enjoy their bonding and their straightforward, to-the-point relationship. So much so, that the three-time world champion also asked Red Bull to make a compilation of their radio messages and put it on social media for their own benefit.
