Max Verstappen was back to doing what he does best as he comfortably led the rest of the grid on Day 1 of pre-season testing. The Dutchman led the morning and the afternoon sessions with an overall best time of 1:31.344. While the results are already a worry for the non-Verstappen fans, another element adds to their problems. Once Verstappen registered the fastest lap time, his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase’s (GP) reaction (seen in a video on X by Verstappen News), has fans worried over something even more daunting coming their way.
As the camera switched to Lambiase, he had a near-‘evil’ smile. For fans, the smile suggested something much more daunting than the RB19 coming their way. Given that pre-season tests aren’t a true measure of a team’s performance, the lead by the Dutchman could only mean more trouble for the rest of the teams on the grid.
The 3X world champion is already faster than his best time from last year’s pre-season testing. RB20 showed great signs of improvement as Verstappen completed nearly 150 (143) laps on Day 1. Speaking to the media after the second session, Verstappen claimed he felt good to be back in an F1 car after so long. He added the car responded well, and they had a nice day, given it was the first day of testing.
Speaking further, Verstappen claimed he was looking forward to the next day of testing. His words added a new layer of fear among the fans as Red Bull aimed to produce an even faster car. Before returning to the garage, Verstappen said he was looking forward to sitting with the engineers and speaking to them about how they can improve further.
GP’s reaction to Max Verstappen has fans warding off evil
Lambiase’s ‘devilish’ smile has caught the attention of thousands of fans worldwide. Many took to X to express their fears over what was to come. Some of these reactions even look like fans are experiencing their worst nightmare come true.
One fan called GP “Pure evil.”
While another claimed the reaction would haunt their nightmares.
Another user pointed out how good things were going in Red Bull, with no display of in-fighting.
While the argument of the pre-season testing continues, there is no doubt Red Bull has a fast car. Should it be faster than the RB19, there might be no stopping the Milton Keynes-based outfit from doing a clean sweep this season.
