Gianpiero Lambiase reacts to Max Verstappen saying he’ll ‘retire from F1’ if his race engineer leaves Red Bull - “It's nice that he says that”

Gianpiero Lambiase 'GP' tuned down the threat of Max Verstappen retiring from Formula 1 upon his departure from the team despite feeling 'nice' to hear it from the triple-world champion.

Max Verstappen and his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase have been together since he made his F1 debut back in 2016. The two have shared a long journey together through the driver's early years and his current peak.

Verstappen has talked about his relationship with GP multiple times in the past, and he also once mentioned that he would only stay in Formula 1 as long as GP stays at Red Bull as he only wants to work with him.

Reacting to the same, Lambiase stated that he felt nice upon hearing it, but there is no way that Verstappen would actually retire if a situation like that arose. He told De Telegraaf,

"First of all, nobody is irreplaceable. And secondly, there's no way that if I walk out that door tomorrow, Max's Formula 1 career is over. It's nice that he says that, and it shows how well we get along."

Lambiase further mentioned that he wishes to work with Max Verstappen for as long as possible, but the day that the two will have to be separated, he will accept it and take it as a new challenge. Adding to that, GP said that it would be unfair to another driver to replicate the situations he had with Verstappen, but it would still be special.

"The day Max and I no longer work together in this setting (F1) will be the day I'm ready for a new challenge. I don't think it's fair to another driver if we try to replicate what I've done with Max since May 2016."

"I see this as something incredibly special and don't think something like this will happen again. So, I hope that we continue in this way at least until 2028, unless he or the team decides otherwise, of course..."

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Max Verstappen on leaving F1 the day GP leaves the Red Bull

Although the three-time world champion looks to be on his way to achieving a lot more in his Formula 1 career, he made a statement regarding his retirement after winning his first world championship back in 2021.

Speaking on Ziggo Sport, a Dutch show, Max Verstappen said that his relationship with GP is very strong and the two have been together through a lot in his racing career. He expressed his desire to not race in F1 anymore if his race engineer decided to leave Red Bull, saying,

"I told him, when he decides to quit, I’ll leave Formula 1 too. I only want to work with him."

The two have been working together since then, and even though they have shared moments of rage, Verstappen is still positive about racing with him in the future, and the feeling is shared by Lambiase, as mentioned above.