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Verstappen's race engineer full of praise: 'It's all possible with him!'
What initially seemed like a challenging weekend for Max Verstappen and Red Bull Racing turned into one of the standout moments of the year for the Dutch driver: the Brazilian Grand Prix. This performance was recently honoured as the 'Moment of the Year,' a recognition received by his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase. Lambiase reflects on that unforgettable F1 weekend.
Lambiase: "With Max in the car, anything is possible"
'GP' explained that Red Bull was more focused on damage control than on scoring points, given Verstappen's 17th-place starting position compared to title rival Lando Norris' pole position. “Obviously, there's always opportunity with wet weather, with Max in the car anything is possible," Lambiase stressed in a conversation with Motorsport.com.
The Red Bull race engineer explained that Verstappen made very rapid progress in the early stages of the race, while the gap to the leaders didn't really widen. At that point, Lambiase knew Verstappen had the speed for a great result. After this, it came down to making the right decisions at the right times, while Verstappen did his thing on the track.
Red Bull was left surprised by Mercedes and McLaren's strategies
Lambiase also played a crucial role in Verstappen's victory at Interlagos. Listening to the Red Bull driver's feedback helped avoid wrong decisions and badly timed pit stops. "I hope it didn't come across as frantic,” Lambiase continued, before explaining that the intermediates remained in good condition for a long time. “It really was about making sure that we can just keep circulating and we don't venture off track."
For Red Bull, the decision not to change to a new set of intermediates was a no-brainer. Lambiase admits he was somewhat surprised when the leaders, Norris and George Russell, did get called in by their teams for a new set of tyres. “Once he was behind Esteban [Ocon] at the restart, I guess I knew that the race win was on the cards, and that really was a pivotal moment in the world championship battle,” Lambiase said.
This article was written in collaboration with Toby Nixon
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