Verstappen has issued his race engineer with plenty of spiky radio messages over the course of the season, even accusing him of “shit execution” at the Belgian Grand Prix. But being the “big brother” he is, Lambiase gave back equally short responses. “Just use your head and listen to my instruction,” he replied.
“People sometimes don’t really understand the relationship we have,” said the Dutchman. “Conversations can get fiery, but that’s the way I like to approach our racing. We both want the best.”
“I don’t even have to say anything now, if I have a bit of oversteer or understeer, and GP will know what to change on the car for me — to suit the way I drive the car as well.”
“That sort of trust takes time, which is why I’ve always been against switching race engineer. They’re very crucial in your performance, so the longer you can stay together, the better.”
With the time pressures of a race weekend, not to mention the grands prix themselves, clarity is more important than civility, says Lambiase: “Being yourself is also really important. There’s no tip-toeing around any issues. If we have to be blunt about something with each other we will be and that just fast-tracks you to short term gains which ultimately is maximising the performance of the car over a race weekend.”
Verstappen has often led the field by Turn 1, and never looked back
Red Bull
It’s unlikely to be a coincidence that the three drivers who have dominated F1 in the past two decades have each maintained a single trusted race engineer. Sebastian Vettel and Guillaume Rocquelin (Rocky) won four consecutive championships from 2010 to 2013, while Pete Bonnington (Bono) has been Lewis Hamilton‘s voice from the Mercedes garage since he joined the team.
That pairing, which has won six drivers’ titles so far, is thought to be the longest F1 driver/race engineer partnership to date
“Trust is what relationships are all about,” Bono told Sky Sports F1 after Hamilton claimed his seventh drivers’ title in 2020. “Understanding what they really mean when they same something. It’s not just what they say but how they say it.”
His ability to keep the Briton calm under pressure and read his on-track mood also proved vital in their eventual success together, which has accumulated into 82 grand prix victories, and has redefined the phrase “Hammer Time”, which a whole generation now associates with Hamilton’s pre-pitstop burst to extract the remaining performance from his tyres.
“We’ve had an amazing journey together,” Hamilton said earlier this year. “We’ve supported each other on and off-track, through good and bad times, and I love working with Bono; he’s like a brother to me.
“I think he’s probably one of the few people that can truly stand me and how calm he’s able to be throughout a race, and how he’s able to help guide and help me navigate through a race. I don’t think there’s many people that can do that.”
The brotherly bond between Hamilton and Bono resulted in six F1 world championships
Grand Prix Photo
But while driver and race engineer rely on a separate set of skills, the test of success remains the same.
“Max’s first race win was also my first race win,” said Lambiase. “But while [as an engineer] you have a level of confidence and self-belief in your working practices, until you actually see that come through, there’s always a little bit of doubt about if someones doing their job better than you or what you’re missing out on.”
“Being with Max has made it all very familiar and a much more comfortable [experience]. He’s taught me how to win.”