Max Verstappen Uses “Bromance” With His Engineer Gianpiero Lambiase as an Excuse to Ignore Work

The drivers have just come off a grueling 2023 season. They raced hard and fair for 22 whole races spanning across 9 months, culminating with Max Verstappen emerging as the outright victor. Verstappen won an astounding 19 out of the 22 races and recorded a whopping 86% win percentage, ensuring that it turned out to be a long season for his competitors.

However, despite the laborious season, the work continues for all the drivers, including the 3-time champion Max Verstappen. But the Dutchman is still basking in his glory and he recently highlighted his “bromance” with his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to justify taking some time off!

The Max Verstappen-Gianpiero Lambiase Bromance

If you’re an F1 fan paying attention to the radio messages, you’re sure to know the relationship that Max Verstappen and his race engineer “GP” share. They are blunt, no-nonsense, and serious, while also managing to tickle the funny bone that leaves even us the viewers amused. When it comes to work, they are both professionals who want to achieve the very best and push each other hard, both on and off track.

Naturally, as work has already started for the 2024 season, Gianpiero Lambiase is already on Verstappen’s coattails. After two weeks of holidays, the 26-year-old should, on paper, be back to working on the next season. In the recent episode of The Talking Bull podcast, Verstappen revealed a funny piece of information that offered more insight into the relationship between the two.

“I have two really nice weeks (after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix), where I can switch off, not really look at my emails or F1-related stuff. To be honest, I have to apologize to my engineer because he sent me three emails related to next year, and I didn’t respond,” Verstappen laughs it off. He then explained that despite not responding, he did happen to see GP and clear the air. “I saw him today, and I made up for it. We’re good. You know our relationship. It’s a bromance.” 

Read more: “Everybody’s Scared of Helmut [Marko]”: Max Verstappen’s Father Jos Reveals Amusing Story Amid Red Bull Uncertainty

Despite laughing it off, however, Verstappen will surely look to push the envelope for the 2024 season, with the goal to equal Sebastian Vettel’s record of 4 consecutive Drivers’ Championships with Red Bull.

Max Verstappen’s goals for 2024

Coming off a high in 2023, there is little to no doubt that Max Verstappen will be satisfied with only one result – The World Drivers’ Champion, 2024. If Red Bull makes any improvements to the RB-19 at all, it might be a very straightforward task for them to win it all once more.

However, according to the drivers and engineers from the other teams, Ferrari and Mercedes are also making a lot of headway in their 2024 cars. If it turns out to be a 6 driver race to the championship, the entertainment we’ll have for next year might be even better than 2021. If things turn tight for Red Bull and Sergio Perez does not improve on his 2023 performance, the Austrian team might find it difficult to emulate the same Constructors’ dominance as they did this year.

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Will they change yet another driver mid-season? Only time will tell.