Gianpiero Lambiase’s ‘biggest fear’ comes true with ‘fiery’ conversations explained

Max Verstappen has had the voice of Gianpiero Lambiase in his ears pretty much since he started in F1.

A clip has resurfaced of Max Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase saying his “biggest fear” is when the team stops winning as that is when Verstappen will get truly angry over the team radio.

Even during their dominant period, Verstappen was not afraid to tell Lambiase how he felt and although he said it partly in jest, the Italian-British engineer suggested the day they stop winning is the day he really worries about.

Gianpiero Lambiase’s Max Verstappen radio prediction comes true

Red Bull’s dominance has fallen away dramatically with Verstappen cutting a frustrated figure at the most recent race in Hungary but for once, Lambiase also appeared at his wit’s end.

The two sparred over the team radio and soon after, a clip emerged on social media of Lambiase speaking on Red Bull’s in-house podcast last season.

“My biggest fear is the moment that we do have increased competition and we’re not winning every race because you see how he’s treating me at the moment and he’s winning every race,” Lambiase said alongside Verstappen. “I’m really not looking forward to it.”

Verstapen then replied that they have had seasons like that in the past and predicted that it was “going to be fine”, something that does not appear entirely true currently, and went on to describe their relationship.

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“Of course, respect is very important. People sometimes don’t really understand what kind of relationship you have. So for example, if we are on the radio and we sound a bit upset or angry, they think we are in a fight but that’s not the case. It’s just we want the best out there.

“Of course, sometimes I raise my voice on the radio because [I am] full of adrenaline as well as driving and GP also he wants the best and that’s why sometimes we have quite fiery conversations.

“But for me, that is the way I like to approach our weekend, our racing, because if I would be upset or whatever, or not happy with a certain situation and he’s like ‘copy that’ or like ‘thank you very much for your message’ [then I would think] what is going on?

“We are both in this together and we want to have the best possible result. But of course, respect is very important.”

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