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Max Verstappen's race engineer at Red Bull, Gianpiero Lambiase, recently talked about how his experience helped him build a strong relationship with the Dutch driver.
Verstappen and Lambiase's partnership is quite famous in the paddock. They frequently have heated arguments and debates about various on-track situations. Despite their relationship looking tense from the outside, both have constantly stated how their open and honest relationship has helped them achieve success in F1.
Red Bull's race engineer told the BBC that his experience with other F1 drivers particularly helped him manage Max Verstappen when he joined the Austrian team in 2016. The 43-year-old chuckled that if he had been a novice race engineer, the Dutch driver would have eaten him alive.
"I had experience working with multiple drivers before Max, and that was one of the biggest helps in terms of hitting the ground running with him. I think if I would have been a newbie to my role - I won't quite say he would have eaten me alive, but I'm not sure he would have had that respect for a junior engineer," Lambiase said.
Before working with Verstappen, Lambiase worked with numerous F1 drivers including Vitantonio Liuzzi, Paul di Resta, Sergio Perez, and Daniil Kvyat. Ever since the Dutchman replaced Kvyat at Red Bull, Lambiase has not left the Dutchman's side and has helped him win a hat-trick of drivers' world championships.
Max Verstappen's race engineer opens up about his biggest fear
Max Verstappen's race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, opened up about his biggest fear in F1 towards the end of last season.
Since the infamous 2021 F1 season, Red Bull and the Dutch driver have been dominating the sport, winning most races and easily sweeping away the championship.
Speaking on the Talking Bulls podcast in November 2023, the British engineer revealed that his biggest fear was if Red Bull got challenged by rival teams. He humorously stated that he would not be able to face Verstappen's wrath when the team encounters fierce competition.
“My biggest fear is the moment that we do have increased competition. And we’re not winning every race because you see how he’s [Max Verstappen is] treating me at the moment! And he’s winning every race. So that’d be I’m really not looking forward to it again,” Lambiase joked.
Verstappen won three consecutive world titles from 2021 to 2023, obliterating the entire grid and easily winning most races. He is currently leading the drivers' standings and won the first two races of the 2024 F1 season, but had to retire from the Australian GP due to a brake issue.
