GianPiero Lambiase reveals his ‘subservient’ role in iconic Max Verstappen win

Max Verstappen has had the voice of Gianpiero Lambiase in his ears pretty much since he started in F1.
GianPiero Lambiase may be willing to tackle Max Verstappen over team radio, but has explained how he knows when to be “subservient” to his driver.
Lambiase, as the four-time F1 World Champion’s race engineer, has developed his own fanbase due to his willingness to challenge his driver when the Dutchman gets obstreperous over team radio.
GianPiero Lambiase on when a race engineer should be “subservient”
Lambiase and Verstappen are regarded within Red Bull as an “old married couple” due to their regular radio bickering, with Lambiase unafraid of Verstappen’s temper when he gets frustrated with how things are going on track.
This has led to several of their radio exchanges becoming the most entertaining part of a Grand Prix, although both sides have made it clear that the unusual nature of their partnership is more akin to that of squabbling brothers, rather than having any basis in genuine anger of annoyance.
Verstappen has long spoken about how he only wishes to race with Lambiase in his ear, with the race engineer last year signing a long-term deal at Milton Keynes alongside a promotion to head of race engineering.
But while Lambiase is willing to challenge Verstappen when necessary, he’s explained how there are also occasions in which he must be totally subservient to what his driver wants – the most recent example being at last year’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
That day at Interlagos saw Verstappen show imperious form as he raced from 17th on the grid to win, all but clinching the World Drivers’ Championship on a day where title rival Lando Norris went backwards from pole position.
Lambiase revealed how his approach to talking to Verstappen changes based on what’s happening on-track, meaning there would have been no biting back at Verstappen even if such an opportunity had presented itself.
“It’s something you need to be innately aware of when you are communicating with a driver that’s travelling at 300kph+ in a very high-pressure environment like that,” Lambiase said at the Autosport Awards in London this week.
“Whilst we are a duo, I think you need to realise that the engineer needs to be subservient to the driver at that point.
“It’s pointless rising to the occasion or anything like that because you’ll just end up in a spiral downwards very, very quickly.”
While Verstappen produced a stunning drive to win the race in the treacherously wet conditions, producing multiple impressive overtakes en route to the front, Lambiase said victory hadn’t been the target when the race began – the focus had been on damage limitation.
“It was really a case for us of damage limitation at that point,” he explained.
“Obviously, there’s always an opportunity with wet weather, with Max in the car anything is possible.
“He was making very quick progress through the beginning of the race. We could tell that the gap to the leaders wasn’t really growing. If anything, he was starting to chip away, and I knew he had the pace, which was positive at the time.
“I think it was just really a case of making the right calls at the right time, Max, doing the right things and keeping the car on the tarmac.
“Then there was one pivotal moment in the race when ultimately he stayed out on track on intermediates whilst the two leaders [Norris and George Russell] pitted for a fresh set which gave him track position.
“Once he was behind Esteban [Ocon] at the restart, I guess I knew that the race win was on the cards, and that really was a pivotal moment in the world championship battle.”
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It was in Verstappen’s feedback on the track conditions that Red Bull responded, ensuring that he was on the right tyres at the right time – this required calmness on the pitwall side, as well as from Verstappen.
“I hope it didn’t come across as frantic,” he added.
“With the conditions that they were on track it didn’t feel like the intermediates were wearing necessarily, we weren’t overheating them as such. We had evidence to suggest that the tyres were still in good condition.
“It really was about making sure that we can just keep circulating and we don’t venture off track. So the decision for us really was I want to say quite straightforward in terms of pitting for a fresh set of inters, that wasn’t really ever on the cards.
“We were a little bit surprised when the two leaders gave up the track position to do so. So for us I won’t say it was calm, but it was where we followed our processes and ultimately came out on top.”
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