At a press conference earlier this season, Lewis Hamilton claimed, “You know Max is under pressure when he’s swearing.” At the Belgian GP weekend, this claim was confirmed after a few rounds of fiery exchanges between Max Verstappen and his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase (GP). Following Verstappen’s almost-exit from Q2 on Friday, the Red Bull airwaves were swimming in colorful language, with the two-time champion blaming GP for what he felt was a questionable strategy. The exchanges continued throughout the weekend, pointing to how under pressure Verstappen felt. This confused everyone, considering the mammoth lead he has in the championship. But a recent YouTube video by The Race revealed a few things about the Dutchman.

According to F1 journalist Scott Mitchell Malm, “That white-hot intensity that Verstappen races in regardless of the circumstances just comes through so clearly in those tetchy exchanges.” But what is this white-hot intensity? The video’s narrator explained what goes through Verstappen’s mind during a race weekend and compared his situation with the veteran Red Bull champ, Sebastian Vettel.

As per the video, “Much like Red Bull’s original dominator Sebastian Vettel, Verstappen wants every single pole position, race win, and fastest lap.” Vettel’s Red Bull era was one of the most dominant periods in F1. Verstappen’s current form is on par with that dominance, and if he wins the next race in Zandvoort, he’ll equal Vettel’s record of winning nine races in a row. The thing is, Verstappen knows he has the car to achieve every accolade week-in, week-out, which is why when he misses an opportunity (or is on the verge of missing one) to do so, GP has to bear the brunt of his wrath.

Read More: “I Couldn’t Do in My Dominant Period”: Sebastian Vettel Bows Down to Max Verstappen’s “Perfection” While Naming 3 Differentiating Factors Between Eras

While GP hears Max out and bears the brunt, he’s not one to just sit and listen. When he feels the need to, he hits back at the Dutchman, and that’s exactly what happened after Verstappen’s Q2 showing in Belgium.

GP put Max Verstappen in his place at Spa and proved he’s his “equal”

The video by The Race mentioned, “Lambiase understands [Verstappen’s intensity] better than anybody else. Lambiase has witnessed Verstappen’s rise from ‘rough diamond’ to one of the greatest drivers F1 has ever seen, and yet he remains very much his equal.” It’s become a well-known fact that Verstappen listens to GP and GP only. Christian Horner said so himself. For Verstappen, there’s no higher authority than GP at Red Bull, which is why an apology quickly followed his outburst.

After Verstappen scraped through Q2 in Spa, he accused GP of a “sh*t execution.” The Dutchman wanted two continuous flying laps, but GP advised against it. So after Verstappen’s outburst, GP replied, “And then when the track was two seconds quicker on the final lap, and you had no energy left, how would that have gone down?” Everything seemed to return to normal in Q3, with Verstappen securing pole position again. He quickly radioed in and said, “Sorry to GP for being so on a rant.” GP hilariously said, “Slowly getting used to it, Max.”

Whose era do you think is more dominant: Max Verstappen’s or Sebastian Vettel’s?

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