Max Verstappen F1 crisis reaches boiling point in tense exchange with Gianpiero Lambiase

Max Verstappen's frustrations at his new Red Bull F1 car were clear for all to see at the Chinese Grand Prix last weekend, with race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase hearing the worst of it.

Verstappen has cut a frustrated figure in the opening weeks of the season, not happy with the new regulations that have been brought into the sport this season, which he has constantly stated takes the fun out of F1, while also comparing the new racing to Mario Kart.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff said last weekend that Verstappen is only so critical about the new rules because his Red Bull team have not mastered them, and their drivers appear to be in a midfield battle.

Indeed, Verstappen has only picked up eight points from the first two race weekends, and is already 43 points behind early championship leader George Russell. The Dutchman has experienced one DNF already this year, while team-mate Isack Hadjar also had to retire from the Australian GP after a problem with the new Red Bull power unit.

And during the Chinese GP, Verstappen's frustrations towards his RB22 exploded into a barrage of fire at his long-suffering race engineer Lambiase. Near the beginning of the race after another poor start, Verstappen said: "I have never driven a car that is as difficult to handle as this one; I am losing a ridiculous amount of time."

As the race went on, Lambiase tried to urge Verstappen to calm down and focus. The stream of complaints from Verstappen continued, leading Lambiase to snap back: "Max, I am supposed to be on your side! I am just trying to help, nothing more."

Verstappen's race eventually came to an end on lap 46 when he was already a lap behind the leaders, after an issue with the energy recovery system (ERS).

F1 HEADLINES: Max Verstappen told to leave F1 as champion's rejection unveiled

Red Bull's disastrous new era

The heated discussion between Verstappen and Lambiase points to the immense frustration that the team are feeling since starting their new era of power unit production.

For the first ever time, both Red Bull and their sister team Racing Bulls are using power units that have been created in-house by Red Bull in partnership with Ford.

While the early signs for the new era were good during pre-season testing, Red Bull have been blighted by reliability issues so far in the 2026 season, as well as an RB22 car design that seems to be less than optimal.

Following sprint qualifying at the Chinese GP, pundit Chris Medland revealed on the F1TV live broadcast that Red Bull's problems went a lot deeper than their power unit.

"They said they were really struggling in the medium-speed sections," Medland said. "That covers the entire first and second sectors.

"So the power unit isn’t the problem. The car simply doesn’t work in medium-speed corners, so they just can’t get the speed out of it."

Team principal Laurent Mekies has a huge job on his hands to try and turn Red Bull into a podium-challenging entity as the 2026 season progresses.

READ MORE: Max Verstappen warns F1 over 'ruining the sport... It will bite them in the a***'

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

Max Verstappen's 'GP' replacement confirmed as new race engineer to take over at Red Bull

• Today 08:14

Isack Hadjar Red Bull absence could be 'much longer than expected'

• 12 minutes ago

'Max vs 100': Start time and how to watch live as Verstappen takes on epic Silverstone challenge

• Yesterday 15:27

F1 announce 34-race 2027 calendar as controversial Monaco Grand Prix decision confirmed

• 2 hours ago

British Grand Prix Tickets: Top tips for Silverstone 2027 as calendar dates confirmed

• 2 hours ago

F1 Australian Grand Prix Tickets: 2027 date and how to buy for Melbourne

• 2 hours ago