Verstappen’s race engineer names reasons for their fiery radio exchanges

Despite the Red Bull’s driver success over the past three seasons, their conversations while he’s on the race track can often become heated.

In Belgium this year, Verstappen complained: "We should have just pushed two laps in a row like I said.”

Lambiase responded: “You are through Max.” 

Verstappen snapped: “Yeah I don’t give a f*** if we’re P10. It’s just shit execution.”

Lambiase hit back: “OK, and then when the track was two seconds quicker on the final lap and you had no energy left, how would that have gone down?”

Lambiase told De Telegraaf about the manner of their radio messages: "He doesn't want it any other way.

“He is to the point, that's how he was raised. And he is not at all out to walk all over you.

"Honesty and being yourself is crucial to working productively and efficiently. If you start wondering whether you should say something because otherwise he might get angry, then you are on to a lost cause.

"You have to be able to trust each other blindly and also keep an eye on the mental and emotional aspects. 

“It's not just about the car, but also about how someone handles their talent and emotions."

Lambiase, who previously worked with Giancarlo Fisichella, Vitantonio Liuzzi, Paul di Resta, Sergio Perez and Daniil Kvyat, has been alongside Verstappen throughout the driver’s F1 journey.

Lambiase was told that Verstappen has suggested he’d quit if his race engineer ever left, but he replied: "It's nice that he says that, but there's no way his F1 career would be over if I walked out of here tomorrow.

"If we no longer work together, I will take on another challenge. 

“It would not be fair to try to emulate with a new driver what I have done with Max since 2016.

“This is something very special for me and that won't happen again."

Verstappen came fifth and sixth in the F1 championship in his first two years driving a Red Bull.

"In those years he learned a lot from the difficult moments, to the point where in 2021 he realised that he mainly had to manage race finishes and that he couldn't afford DNFs,” Lambiase said.

“And with that title in his pocket, he can now judge how many risks he has to take. 

“He now also knows that he doesn't always have to be the 105 percent version of himself."