“It’s Not Qualifying Max”: Brotherly Bickering Begins Between Gianpiero Lambiase & Verstappen Over Simple Demand

Do you recall the Belgium GP qualifying? Max Verstappen took the pole by over 8 tenths of a second. However, barely made it to Q3 after not getting what he asked for from his team and engineers. The result was the famous radio call to Gianpiero Lambiase, where Verstappen called GP out for messing up the execution. Nonetheless, GP and Verstappen are back to bickering once again. This time at Monza over a simple demand. What was this demand?

A race engineer and a driver share a special relationship. A driver is dependent on his race engineer for every bit of information when inside the car. Verstappen hasn’t been shy about praising his race engineer and explaining how much GP means to him. Regardless, Verstappen was recently heard complaining about the traffic that he had to face on his hot lap during the FP2 session. The Dutchman wanted a clean lap. However, GP asked Verstappen to return to the pits, but the 2X champion stayed adamant on staying out. 

After completing the traffic-affected hot lap in FP2, Max Verstappen radioed, “That middle sector was shocking with the traffic. We’re not going to try again? Because I had a ** read.” GP replied, “It’s not qualifying Max. Box please.” Verstappen was adamant on another lap and said, “Yeah, but I want to have a proper read.” After the second hot lap, GP sarcastically asked, “Did you learn anything?” To which Max cheekily replied, “No, not really.” GP said, “Well done.”

Read More: “Always Had the Upper Hand”: Christian Horner Lashes Out at Lewis Hamilton over Attempts to Pull Down Max Verstappen

Max Verstappen was just asking to do another hot lap after the previous one was compromised. The brotherly bickering just goes on to show the understanding that Max Verstappen and his engineer share. 

Max Verstappen will stop racing if Gianpiero Lambiase quits

Max Verstappen has hinted at an early retirement many times. When the sprint rule changes were made while shooting for a promotional event and many more times. However, the Dutchman also advised that he would leave the sport if his race engineer GP quit. He further talked about his relationship with GP and the dynamic between them.

According to Ziggosport.com, Max Verstappen said, “I have said to him I only work with him. As soon as he stops, I stop too. Of course, we can be pretty strict with each other sometimes, but I want that too. He has to tell me when I’m being a jerk and I have to tell him. I always told him that. He can tell me that on the radio as well, but it’s been going really well lately. The last few years I tried to be the engineer and he tried to be the driver.”

Watch this Story: Sergio Perez Caught in the Crossfire as Sebastian Vettel Dismisses All Attempts to Downplay Verstappen’s Dominance

What do you make of the relationship shared by GP and Max Verstappen?