Christian Horner reveals Max Verstappen had 'COUNSELLING' over F1 summer break

Horner and Verstappen in 2023 — Photo: © LAT Images

Max Verstappen

Horner reveals Verstappen had 'COUNSELLING' over F1 summer break

Christian Horner revealed all when it came to Max Verstappen's summer break

Anna Malyon

Saturday 26 August 2023 09:57

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has revealed that Max Verstappen and his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase (GP) had 'counselling' over the summer break.

Speaking to the media during the Dutch Grand Prix race weekend, Horner discussed the relationship between Verstappen and Lambiase.

“They are like an old married couple,” Horner said. “You hear them b******* at each other and having a go. They’ve done a bit of counselling over the summer break. They’re back together, they look happy, and it’s a great partnership.

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“Those two guys, they know each other intimately and the race engineer has a unique relationship with the driver, and GP and Max’s is one of the best I have ever seen”.

Verstappen's relationship in the spotlight

Lambiase and Verstappen have had some tense conversations over the radio this season

Verstappen and Lambiase’s relationship has become a hot topic of conversation following their heated exchange over the team radio during the Belgium Grand Prix race weekend.

After narrowly making it into Q2, Verstappen publicly showed his dislike of the team’s strategy. “I don’t give a f*** if I’m through in P10. It was s*** execution,” he said.

“OK, and then when the track was two seconds quicker for your final lap and you didn’t have any energy left, how would that have gone down?” Lambiase quickly replied.

Verstappen eventually went on to secure pole position for the grand prix and later apologised to his race engineer.

"Nice gap that!" Verstappen said. "At least we had a good Q3, and sorry to GP for being such a... so on the rant.”

"Slowly getting used to it Max," Lambiase light-heartedly replied.

Verstappen has been known for his harsh outbursts, which are evidently taken out on his race engineer. However, Horner will hope that the recent 'counselling' will allow a more friendly dynamic to develop on team radio’s between the two.