Gianpiero Lambiase feted for “no hierarchy” feisty bust-ups with Max Verstappen

Gianpiero Lambiase has been credited for the manner of his interactions with Max Verstappen.

Verstappen and his race engineer are well-known within Formula 1 for their feisty radio conversations.

Lambiase, in particular, is feted for his cool and collected responses to Verstappen’s often fiery words.

“He’s an engineer like I was,” Rob Smedley told the Red Flags Podcast.

Smedley worked for Jordan, Ferrari and Williams in the F1 paddock, most notably as the race engineer for Felipe Massa.

He explained the unique role of a race engineer who must converse with a stressed driver via radio during a grand prix.

“When I first started, Gary Anderson said to me ‘you’ve got to be pissing in each other’s pockets’,” Smedley said.

“There is no hierarchy here, it’s two guys trying to get the best out of this thing.

“It’s a pressure cooker, too. You’ve got to have a completely open relationship.

“Sometimes you will get pissed off with him, or he’ll get pissed off with you.

“But it’s like any kind of deep relationship. You have those moments then, five minutes later, it’s all okay.

“That’s what it should be like between an engineer and a driver when you get the relationship right."

Gianpiero Lambiase praised for holding Max Verstappen to account

“GP tells him like it is, and Max will fire back," Smedley continued.

“One thing I like about GP, which is similar to how I always felt, is that sometimes drivers can be sociopathic with their views on the team.

“These are guys who stay up until midnight working for you.

“You’ve heard GP a couple of times - and I have also said it to my drivers - is that ‘you need to go to the garage and apologise to the guys, because how you’ve been behaving is not adult, you have not been a nice person’.

“GP has done that with Max, and I certainly did it in my time.

“The way Gianpiero conducts himself on the radio is a reflection on their real relationship.

“They both rely on each other fully, and trust each other fully.

“Whenever I delivered a message, I remembered that it’s not called ‘Massa Formula 1’ or ‘Smedley Formula 1’ or ‘Alonso Formula 1’. It’s called Ferrari Formula 1.

“Our pay cheques have Scuderia Ferrari on them, that’s who we work for.

“You’ve got to get the balance right. A race engineer cannot be 100% focused on what the team needs, otherwise he’s not optimising his vehicle.

“If you’re not optimising the package, you do a disservice to the team. It’s a real tightrope of optimising the car, but not overstepping the mark by doing it to the detriment of the team.”

Lambiase, who has been alongside Verstappen for each of his four consecutive drivers’ championships, will be rewarded with a new role at Red Bull this year.

He will become their Head of Racing, part of a restructure due to Jonathan Wheatley’s exit.

But crucially Lambiase will still be the voice in Verstappen’s ear during races.