Red Bull boss forced to step in and mediate LOVERS' TIFF

Max Verstappen

Red Bull boss forced to step in and mediate LOVERS' TIFF

Horner the voice of reason of in-house battles

L.A. Wilshaw

Sunday 6 August 2023 07:42

Christian Horner described the relationship between Max Verstappen and pit-wall engineer Ganpiero Lambiase as ‘spicy’ following their bickering over team radio during the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.

Throughout the race, communications were heated between the two, to the point where their responses seemed on the verge of becoming explosive. Lambiase began with a warning to Verstappen, “Don’t forget Max, use your head please.” That triggered the response, “Are we both doing it or what?”

With rain expected as their stop for tyres approached, Red Bull also had Charles Leclerc to cover off as the Ferrari driver was within range of catching the race leader.

Article continues under video

“What are your thoughts?" Lambiase asked, returning to the radio. "Can we get there or should we box this lap to cover Leclerc?” Verstappen bitingly replied, “Erm, I can’t see the weather radar can I, so I don’t know.”

Verstappen threatens to go rogue

Following Verstappen’s pit stop, Lambiase warned Verstappen about his tyre management, saying, “You used a lot of the tyre on the out lap Max. Not sure that was very sensible.”

Being greeted with radio silence from the Dutchman, Lambiase emphasised the point a little later. “This tyre had reasonable deg in the first stint. I’ll ask you to use your head a bit more.” Verstappen defused this final squabble jokingly with a threat to pit one final time, “I could also push on and we do another stop; a little bit of pit stop training.”

“No. Not this time,” Lambiase concluded.

READ MORE: Horner calls Red Bull colleague as 'PR manager's NIGHTMARE' When asked about the clashes, team boss Horner said, "Ganpiero Lambiase is good at managing Verstappen during a race weekend and qualifying, and there is respect towards each other from both sides. GP has contact with me at the pit wall, but the main communication is with the driver.

“There is a lot of respect and trust between the two. If you want to be Verstappen's engineer, you have to come from good homes. He is a tough customer. Many engineers would succumb to that pressure, and GP can deal with that. Both in terms of character and respect."

“What you have to know is that these kinds of engineers breathe data. They can see everything, they know how their drivers are driving and what they are trying to get out of the car. I said to GP that I thought I knew what Verstappen was doing: creating a gap for a pit stop.

Team boss recovering from controversial championship

“Then Lambiase said to me: he is taking it pretty easy, because all the data indicates that he has it under control. Having a good bond is important in that, and that's what these two guys have. Sometimes it gets spicy for a while; Verstappen is the type of person where emotions can run up quickly. However, that also goes away quickly. GP doesn't forget that so quickly."

It’s been a number of years since the Red Bull team dominated in such fashion as they are this season, spending a few difficult years in the shadow of the Mercedes team.

When asked if he would like more competition in the championship, Horner said, "Absolutely not. I'm still recovering from the 2021 season. Results like today are a combination of cooperation.

"It's about every person on the team, every floor of the factory. You don't achieve such results by accident. It's a great moment for our team, and we have to take our hats off to everyone working hard behind the scenes to achieve these kinds of achievements."