Max Verstappen isn’t renowned for keeping his feelings to himself during a race, often venting to his long-term race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase on the airwaves for anything from the way the car is handling, to strategy calls or whether he feels penalties are justified.
But the duo also share plenty of heartfelt moments, with ‘GP’ the first to congratulate Verstappen on his pole positions and race victories, or as was the case in Las Vegas, on World Championship glory.
“This year has shown many similarities to 2021 actually, it was getting pretty intense at times,” Lambiase told Sky Sports F1 in the wage of Verstappen’s championship-winning drive in Las Vegas.
“Obviously, the buffer we had at the beginning of the year cemented things, but he’s taken another step which for you guys must be pretty hard to believe.
Verstappen celebrated with all his crew on Saturday in Las Vegas
“The effort he is putting in in the office with all us guys, and the respect he’s starting to give his other drivers, you know, he doesn’t have to – we’ve seen a few flashes of it – but he doesn’t have to be there winning every single thing every single weekend. I’m really proud of him.”
Lambiase and Verstappen have worked together since the Dutchman was promoted to Red Bull in 2016, and will continue to do so next year despite Lambiase being promoted to Head of Racing. They often have plenty to say to each other on the radio, but GP was quick to explain that what the viewers hear is only a fraction of what is really going on.
“That’s the thing, you have chats with him outside the track – what you hear on the broadcast, that’s not necessarily Max, that’s him with the adrenaline at the time.
“As much as he has this bravado, he will adsorb every piece of information that goes through his ears and that’s his real strength. We can always rely on him in the heat of the moment to do the right thing.”
Horner and Lambiase have been instrumental in coordinating Verstappen’s campaign this year
Team boss Christian Horner was also swift to pay tribute to the relationship Verstappen has with Lambiase, the stability afforded between the two often the foundation of the Dutchman’s success, especially in a season like 2024, where Verstappen didn’t have the luxury of the fastest car at every race.
“I just want to pay credit to GP as well and his team of engineers, they’ve been outstanding this year. It’s been tough, there has been a huge amount going on and week in, week out they have been putting the effort in and [Verstappen] couldn’t do it without the support he’s had within the garage, within the team, within the factory.
“And GP takes a bit of flack on occasion, he gives as good as he gets but it is that relationship between driver and engineer and team that enables you to achieve these kinds of results.”
2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix: Max Verstappen clinches title number four under the Las Vegas lights