Gianpiero Lambiase has been Max Verstappen’s race engineer since his surprise arrival at Red Bull in the hot season of 2016. Lambiase praises working with the reigning world champion and the reverse is also true – Verstappen said he couldn’t imagine himself in F1 without Lambiase.
For the “Red Bulletin Heroes Verstappen Edition”, Lambiase recalled Verstappen’s early days at Red Bull and described what makes him special.
“Anyone who changes teams has a lot of new information to process,” Lambiase said. “But it seemed like he’d been with us for weeks. He absorbed everything, almost beat his teammate in qualifying and ended up winning the race,” Lambiase says of the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.
“The relationship between driver and race engineer is based on mutual trust. The more direct a driver is, the more he trusts the team. My experience is that if a driver stops giving his honest opinion on the car and starts walking around the hot mess, the results get worse.”
“Max is direct, but so am I. This makes him very open, honest and easy to work with.”
Verstappen’s approach is a ‘great gift’
“Some riders want to get to the bottom of the data, while others don’t want to get involved at all. And then there’s Max. He explains very precisely where he can push the car to the limit and what exactly it needs to go faster. Thanks to his instructions, we always know what to do. A rider who can communicate clearly is a great gift.”
“He’s a great rider. He has an incredibly natural feel for racing combined with a good analytical mind. Some riders take time to get that fast, but Max was fast straight away.”
According to Lambias, the fact that he signed a long-term contract with Red Bull, according to which he will stay until the end of 2028, also has a positive effect on Verstappen’s relationship with the team.
“His long-term commitment to the team also plays a role. He wants to be a part of Red Bull for the long term, he believes in us and in our work.”
When it comes to working with Verstappen, winning the title was understandably the highlight for Lambias. He admitted that he felt excitement but also fear in the last round in Abu Dhabi 2021. Verstappen overtook Hamilton, but he wasn’t far behind.
“I just shouted something over the team radio. I’m usually very shy, but at that moment it all flew out of me. It was very emotional and great.”
“My wife and daughter have had to learn to live with me being away so often. And then there’s Max’s first title, my first title. It was and is an insanely emotional moment. I will never forget that feeling.”
