‘LOL, look at this’ – Untelevised Max Verstappen team radio emerges after Bahrain GP chaos
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen in a press conference at the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia
Untelevised team radio footage from the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia has revealed the moment Max Verstappen summed up the chaos on the formation lap with the comment: “LOL, look at this.”
The four-time world champion also alluded to an inside joke with race engineer GianPiero Lambiase over the real number of wins he has in Formula 1 after claiming his 72nd career victory at Sepang.
Untelevised Max Verstappen team radio after Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia
Verstappen claimed his first win of the F1 2026 season in Malaysia and the first for a Red Bull Powertrains-Ford engine.
The Dutchman’s 72nd win with Red Bull saw him equal Michael Schumacher’s tally of victories with Ferrari.
The record for F1 wins achieved with a single team belongs to Lewis Hamilton, who claimed 84 victories with Mercedes between 2013 and 2024.
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Verstappen’s return to winning ways came after a brief scare on the formation lap as he struggled to accelerate while leading the pack.
The race was suspended after a number of cars developed the same problem, with the FIA forced to issue a software update to teams to resolve the issue.
Sergio Perez, the Cadillac driver who was among those affected by the power issues, branded the situation “totally unacceptable for the sport.”
As other cars crawled to a complete halt, Verstappen poked fun at the chaotic scenes by remarking: “LOL, look at this.”
The term ‘LOL’ is an acronym widely used on internet and messaging platforms to indicate amusement.
The full exchange between Verstappen and Lambiase went as follows:
Verstappen: “This, this, f**k. I can’t accelerate.”
Lambiase: “Stand by.”
Verstappen: “Why doesn’t it work?”
Lambiase: “Stand by.”
Verstappen: “It’s not working, guys.”
Lambiase: “Stand by, Max. We’re looking.”
Lambiase: “And let’s have fail, one, fail, please, Max. Fail, one, fail.”
Verstappen: “Looks like maybe Lewis has a similar problem to you. He’s still struggling between Turn 11 and Turn 12.”
Verstappen: “Left side of the grid is not fair. Left is much drier than my side.”
Lambiase: “Understood. Thank you.”
Lambiase: “So, Max. To try and avoid what happened there on that last lap, let’s keep the engine revs up in the corners, please. So as low a gear as you can possibly run.”
Verstappen: “The safety car is not moving.”
Lambiase: “There is a long train of cars struggling, crawling. Both Audis, Hamilton, Haas. I don’t think this is related to individual engine issues here, Max. I think there’s some kind of relation.”
Lambiase: “So Hamilton has got going. You have both Cadillacs, both Haas, both Audis crawling ahead of you, as has Lindblad.”
Verstappen: “LOL, look at this. Hahaha…”
As he took the chequered flag, Verstappen was well aware that his Bahrain Grand Prix triumph marked his 72nd win since he joined Red Bull in May 2016.
It may prove to be Verstappen’s final victory with Lambiase by his side after the long-serving race engineer announced earlier this year that he is to join McLaren in due course.
After taking congratulations from Lambiase and Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies over team radio, Verstappen and his race engineer Lambiase briefly appeared to question whether Bahrain truly counted as his 72nd win.
It is unclear exactly what the pair were alluding to.
Lambiase: “Well done, mate. Keep the story rolling for another year. Well done, mate. It was never in doubt, you’re the man today.”
Verstappen: “Yeah, 72, mate! Seventy-two! Amazing job, guys. What a fantastic weekend. Really deserved, really good job everyone. I’m really proud of this one.”
Mekies: “Wow, Max. Well done. We had to wait for that one but you took us through these 15 difficult races and showed them all, so that’s what team spirit is. Well done, mate. You were just untouchable.”
Verstappen: “Thank you, Laurent. A crazy, insane race.”
Lambiase: “It’s not 72, mate, come on it’s…”
Verstappen: “What, what’s that?”
Lambiase: “It’s not 72, is it? It’s… something else.”
Verstappen: “Ah. Well, we’ll keep that for ourselves!”
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