F1 News: Red Bull Chief's Troubling Admission - Max Is "Taking It Pretty Easy"

During the Belgian Grand Prix, we saw a bit of an argument between Max Verstappen and his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase (GP). The exchange of words was such that it seemed like it could turn into a heated debate.

Lambiase started it off by asking Verstappen to use his head. He said, “Don’t forget Max, use your head please,” to which, Verstappen replied, "Are we both doing it or what?”

Another example of the 'bitterness' in their conversation was when Charles Leclerc was in the range of catching up with Verstappen. As they approached the pitstop for a tire swap and with the rain being expected, Lambiase asked over the radio:

“What are your thoughts? Can we get there or should we box this lap to cover Leclerc?”

Verstappen replied saying:

“Erm, I can’t see the weather radar can I, so I don’t know.”

It didn't end there. After the pitstop, Lambiase cautioned Verstappen about his tire management skills, “You used a lot of the tire on the out lap Max. Not sure that was very sensible.” When he didn't receive a reply, Lambiase hit out again after some time, "This tire had reasonable deg in the first stint. I’ll ask you to use your head a bit more.”

Luckily, Verstappen brushed it off with humor saying “I could also push on and we do another stop; a little bit of pit stop training.” Lambiase was quick to reply "No. Not this time."

However, team boss Chrisitan Horner assures that things are under control. He explained that Lambiase was indeed good to manage a driver like Verstappen whose temper could flare up easily, without succumbing to pressure. Throwing light on their relationship, he revealed:

"Ganpiero Lambiase is good at managing Verstappen during a race weekend and qualifying, and there is respect towards each other from both sides. GP has contact with me at the pit wall, but the main communication is with the driver.

"There is a lot of respect and trust between the two. If you want to be Verstappen's engineer, you have to come from good homes. He is a tough customer. Many engineers would succumb to that pressure, and GP can deal with that. Both in terms of character and respect.

"What you have to know is that these kinds of engineers breathe data. They can see everything, they know how their drivers are driving and what they are trying to get out of the car. I said to GP that I thought I knew what Verstappen was doing: creating a gap for a pit stop.

“Then Lambiase said to me: 'he is taking it pretty easy, because all the data indicates that he has it under control'. Having a good bond is important in that, and that's what these two guys have. Sometimes it gets spicy for a while.

"Verstappen is the type of person where emotions can run up quickly. However, that also goes away quickly. GP doesn't forget that so quickly."

Commenting on the excellent performance Red Bull has been displaying, Horner gave credit to each individual working for the team. He said:

"It's about every person on the team, every floor of the factory. You don't achieve such results by accident. It's a great moment for our team, and we have to take our hats off to everyone working hard behind the scenes to achieve these kinds of achievements."