Max Verstappen involved in row with Red Bull engineer at Belgian GP
Max Verstappen is involved in heated row with Red Bull engineer Gianpiero Lambiase at Belgian Grand Prix
- Red Bull star Max Verstappen secured another victory at the Belgian Grand Prix
- It marks Verstappen’s eighth consecutive win as he hunts down a third world title
- He recorded the fastest lap of the race, despite rowing with the team engineer
Max Verstappen was involved in a heated row with Red Bull engineer Gianpiero Lambiase – who told the Dutch driver to ‘follow my instructions’ at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The engineer went on to urge the eventual race winner to ‘use your head’ as Verstappen pushed back against his instructions during the showpiece event on Sunday afternoon.
The Belgian Grand Prix saw defending champion Verstappen claim his eighth successive win, and his 10th in 12 races. Verstappen continued his journey to a third world title at the Belgian track and has consequently extended his championship lead by 125 points heading into the summer break.
It was during lap 17 of 44 when he deployed DRS and flew past Sergio Perez, who was helpless to resist the advance on the Kemmel Straight.
During the race, Verstappen wanted to double stack rather than allowing Perez the undercut. His race engineer Lambiase responded, ‘don’t forget, Max, use your head please.’
Max Verstappen (above) won his eighth consecutive race with at Spa-Francorchamps
Verstappen responded to the disagreement with engineer by recording fastest lap of the race
The race was a hot topic among drivers and fans alike, as the wet weather conditions raised concerns about the perils of driving with wet spray obstructing the drivers’ view.
During the Spa race, reigning champion Verstappen was involved in a row with a Red Bull engineer with whom he disagreed with.
‘So don’t forget Max, use your head please,’ said Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.
‘Are we both doing it or what?’ replied Verstappen.
‘You just follow my instruction,’ came Lambiase’s response.
‘No, I want to know both cars do it,’ Verstappen fired back.
‘Max, please follow my instruction and trust it, thank you,’ said Lambiase.
The following lap, Verstappen stopped for tyres and it only took a couple of laps before he was crawling all over the back of Perez’s Red Bull machine.
Verstappen tracked Perez through the fearsome Eau Rouge-Raidillon section before applying DRS and roaring round the outside of his team-mate along the Kemmel Straight on lap 17
Verstappen finished in first place – an impressive 22.3sec from Perez who followed as runner-up. Charles Leclerc landed in third place for Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton followed in fourth
Verstappen tracked Perez through the fearsome Eau Rouge-Raidillon section before applying DRS and roaring round the outside of his team-mate along the Kemmel Straight on lap 17. By the end of the lap, he had already pulled out a 1.6 sec gap over his team-mate.
Verstappen was then on the radio, reporting rain, and the Dutchman endured a hairy moment through Eau Rouge as the back end of his Red Bull machine stepped out on him at 180mph.
‘F***, I nearly lost it,’ said the championship leader amid the light drizzle.
Lambiase was then back on the radio asking if Verstappen could make his tyres last with more rain due to arrive.
‘I can’t see the weather radar,’ came Verstappen’s spiky response.
On lap 29, Perez now trailing Verstappen by nine seconds, stopped for a second time with Verstappen following in on the same lap but it was not long before Lambiase was back on the radio lambasting his driver.
‘You used a lot of the tyre on the out lap Max,’ he said. ‘I am not sure if that was sensible.’
Verstappen responded by recording the fastest lap of the race.
The race quickly became a hot topic among drivers and fans alike, as the wet weather conditions raised concerns about driving through wet spray which obstructs the drivers’ view
Verstappen has extended his championship lead by 125 points heading into the summer break
Such is Verstappen’s stranglehold of Formula One, he was back on the radio joking if he should stop for a third time.
‘Should we push on and do another stop?’ he said. ‘A little bit of pit-stop training?’. Lambiase replied: ‘Not this time’.
But Verstappen showed no sign of slowing down, delivering Red Bull’s 22nd win from the last 23 races and retaining the team’s unbeaten streak this season.
Verstappen’s eventual victory was 22.3sec from Perez. Leclerc landed in third for Ferrari and British Lewis Hamilton came in fourth.
George Russell was sixth and Lando Norris seventh. McLaren’s Oscar Piastry was tagged by Spaniard Carlos Sainz on the opening corner, which the latter two the afternoon’s only retirees.
Recap all the action here from the Belgian Grand Prix.
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