Christian Horner Admits to Shutting Down Max Verstappen & Gianpiero Lambiase’s Prank to Take Cautious Road

After Red Bull’s 13th consecutive win, you would think the biggest story coming out of the Belgian GP weekend would be Max Verstappen’s sheer dominance this season. But despite winning his 8th race in a row, it wasn’t him in the limelight. Rather, Gianpiero Lambiase stole the spotlight this weekend. But who is he? He’s Verstappen’s race engineer, his partner in crime—the first person to appreciate him when he drives well, and, like we saw this weekend, the first person to set him straight when he needs to. And together, they’re a formidable pairing, one even Christian Horner doesn’t interfere with. But when push comes to shove, he has to, and that’s what happened at Spa.

After qualifying on pole, Verstappen had to start the Belgian GP in sixth after receiving a five-place grid penalty due to an extra gearbox change. Despite starting out of position (because he’s so used to starting at the front), it took only 17 out of the 44 laps to take the lead. And in the next 27 laps, he extended his lead to more than 22 seconds. Seeing as drivers get an extra point for the fastest lap, Verstappen wanted to extend his lead further to get a free pit stop but was advised against it by Lambiase.

In the latter part of the race, when Verstappen pitter for soft tires, he was unnecessarily hard on them on his out-lap, so Lambiase radioed in and said, “This tire had reasonable deg in the first stint. I would ask you to use your head a bit more.” Verstappen replied, “I could also push on and do another stop. A little bit of pit stop training?” But Lambiase simply said, “No, not this time.” As it turns out, it wasn’t him who didn’t want to risk it. It was Christian Horner.

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In a post-race interview with Sky, Horner was asked if he’d fancied a penultimate lap pot stop. He replied, “No, I could see what was going on, and GP was taking the mickey out of me, saying, ‘Why not?’ And I think we’d done enough this weekend. The Sprint race, a one-two finish. I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that signing off into the summer break.” Not only did Horner stop GP and Verstappen’s shenanigans, but he also called them an old married couple after that.

Christian Horner reveals what Max Verstappen and GP’s relationship is like

Following Verstappen’s outburst during qualifying on Friday, after which Lambiase put him in place, everyone realized the only person who could do what he did—and not just get away with it but also receive an apology from Verstappen—is Lambiase. Over the years, they’ve shared so much banter on the radio that listening to Verstappen’s comms with him could be just as entertaining as watching a race. And Christian Horner revealed what their relationship is like.

Horner said, “GP is a cool operator, and he doesn’t take any messing about. So there’s great trust and respect between the two of them. And sometimes they’re like an old, married couple, and sometimes you think they need a bit of counseling. But there’s just this tremendous respect between the two of them. They’ve been together since Max’s first race [at Red Bull], so they know each other extremely well.”

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Did you enjoy listening to GP setting Max Verstappen straight at the Belgian GP?