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Gianpiero Lambiase claims Max Verstappen would have ‘eaten him alive’ at Red Bull if not for ONE key factor

GP and Max have been a duo since 2016

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Accredited motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 18 January 2026 16:55 Updated: 23:21

Max Verstappen's F1 race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase has revealed what saved him from being 'eaten alive' by the champion at Red Bull.

The British-Italian engineer has spent two decades in Formula 1, beginning his career at Jordan which then transformed into Midland, Spyker and Force India, eventually becoming Giancarlo Fisichella's performance engineer at the latter team in 2008.

Lambiase moved to Red Bull in 2015, where he assumed the role of Daniil Kvyat's race engineer before working alongside Verstappen when he joined the team in 2016.

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The engineer was included in Sky Sports F1 presenter's Simon Lazenby's upcoming book Pressure, in which Lambiase provided a chapter on his experience in the sport.

Lambiase reflects on Verstappen

An extract from the book saw him reflect on his first impressions of Verstappen, and how ultimately his experience stood him good stead to work with the Dutchman.

"What stood out immediately was the capacity this kid had. He took on absolutely everything. And I’m not just blowing smoke up his arse," Lambiase wrote.

"It was like playing a PlayStation for him. Some of the instructions we were giving him for if a particular system goes down were pretty complex, especially whilst you are still trying to drive the car at 99 or 100 per cent on track, and he didn’t miss a beat. After those three days on the simulator, you kind of knew what you had under you.

“The fact that I was quite an experienced engineer at the time is what stood me in good stead to build a relationship with him, because I think if I had been in my first or second year of race engineering, he would have eaten me alive.”

During the winter break, Lambiase was linked to rival F1 teams such as Williams and Aston Martin, but it was confirmed he would remain at Red Bull as their head of racing and as Verstappen's race engineer for 2026.

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Red Bull Max Verstappen Gianpiero Lambiase