Max Verstappen and his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase have had tense conversations on the team radio in the past, but none was as fiery as their back-and-forth at the 2024 Hungarian GP. Driving a sub-par Red Bull car, Verstappen was frustrated, and he revealed after the race that Lambiase made things worse.
Verstappen didn’t calm down after getting out of the car either. He snapped back at people who questioned his radio antics. When asked what made him so angry, the three-time champion told Viaplay,
“I was just receiving dumb comments on the radio. Instead of trying to talk to me, maybe admitting it wasn’t ideal…That calms me down as well, but then they are also arguing against me. Then that’s truly my last straw”.
Lambiase tells @Max33Verstappen to introduce his tires gently.
He sets the fastest lap.
Lambiase: “That’s some gentle introduction.”
Verstappen: “No mate, don’t give me that now. You guys gave me this strategy okay. I’m trying to race with what’s left.”#F1 #HungarianGP— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) July 21, 2024
The Red Bull driver was unhappy with the tire strategy that his team gave him. Lewis Hamilton undercut him at the first pitstop, which led to Verstappen being stuck behind the Mercedes. At the second round of stops, even Charles Leclerc undercut him, adding to Verstappen’s fury.
Towards the end of the race, a desperate Verstappen lunged on Hamilton down the inside at turn one to force an overtake, but he locked up and lost a place to Leclerc. The Dutchman was P5, which is where he ended his Hungarian GP.
Verstappen felt that Hamilton moved under braking and complained on the team radio. Lambiase, however, simply called his complaint “childish”.
ouuuuuuuu pic.twitter.com/HOhzlfmOro
— ୨୧ (@certifiedhatr) July 21, 2024
Last year, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner dismissed rumors of rifts between Verstappen and Lambiase behind the scenes. He referred to them as a “married couple”, who despite fighting openly on team radio all the time, actually shared a great relationship.
The Hungarian GP conversation, however, could potentially add to tensions between the two. On top of that, Red Bull’s lost pace advantage is not helping Verstappen stay calm and use his skills to produce good results.
Tough times for Red Bull
For several races, Verstappen has been pleading with Red Bull to develop its car to catch up to others in the race. However, their Hungarian GP upgrades haven’t worked and he is frustrated.
Over the last two years, Verstappen had gotten used to winning but Red Bull lost its dominance a few races into the 2024 campaign. Furthermore, a McLaren one-two in Hungary has brought down the gap between them and Red Bull to just 51 points.
Unless the Milton Keynes outfit bolsters its performance with positive changes to the car, it lies in danger of losing out on the Constructors’ Championship.
