Max Verstappen defends 'sparky' Red Bull team radio messages with race engineer at Belgian Grand Prix
Verstappen had an expletive-laden rant at his race engineer on Friday and further confrontational comments were broadcast on Sunday as the Red Bull driver claimed his eighth straight Formula 1 win and continued his dominant form
Monday 31 July 2023 13:30, UK
Max Verstappen has defended the confrontational radio messages with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase that were broadcast throughout the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Dutchman claimed his eighth F1 win in a row at Spa and moved 125 points clear in the drivers' standings, but one of the talking points of the weekend was the nature of the radio communication between the driver and his team.
On Friday, Verstappen apologised for an expletive-laden rant after only just scraping into the pole shootout and the verbal sparring continued during Sunday's race when Lambiase - widely known as GP - told the world champion to "use your head" over his tyre use.
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When asked if the messages were serious or in jest, Verstappen responded "fifty-fifty", but insisted the language was an important part of their relationship.
"That's how we operate," Verstappen told Sky Sports F1.
"I think we know each other very well from all the years we have been working together.
"The car has been performing really well. Of course they want to keep it under control, but I'm the one in the car feeling how the tyres are behaving. They have the numbers but it's still also a feeling thing.
"As long as they tell me from their side what they're seeing then I can make my mind up of how to do it in terms of how to push it out.
"I think that works very well for us at the moment."
Horner praises race engineer over handling of 'tough customer' Max
Lambiase has worked with Verstappen since he first moved to Red Bull in 2016, and has been a key figure in the Dutchman's evolution from combustible rookie to multiple world champion.
Team principal Christian Horner admits their relationship is "sparky", but emphasised the mutual trust between the two.
"I think to race engineer Max Verstappen, you've got to have strength of character because he is one tough customer," Horner said.
"Many race engineers would crumble under that pressure and GP has got the strength of character to deal with that.
"He deals with him firmly, but fairly and there's a great respect between the two of them. That comes out of a mutual trust that you must have with an engineer.
"The only problem is that conversation between the two of them has 200 million people listening, but there's a great bond between the two of them and a great trust between the two."
He added: "Sometimes it gets a bit sparky between the two of them, but Max is the kind of character that will rev very quickly and it will come down very quickly. GP doesn't forget so quickly."
Duo are like 'an old married couple'
On Sunday, Verstappen was told to "follow instructions" and was admonished for not being sensible in some particularly forthright messages from Lambiase as he cruised to victory, 22 seconds clear of his nearest rival.
However, Sky Sports F1's Naomi Schiff believes Verstappen benefits from the "tough love" he receives in those situations.
"They have been working together since Max was 18 years old and they do refer to themselves as an old married couple. You can see the banter between them represents a little bit of that.
"Every driver is very different. They have already found out between the two of them what works and sometimes for Max that happens to be tough love.
"He's got to push him back when Max tries to do too much and push too hard. Somebody's got to rein him in and GP seems to be doing that perfectly."
Formula 1 returns after the summer break with the Dutch GP and all sessions will be live on Sky Sports F1 from August 25-27. Stream the biggest sporting events with NOW
