Max Verstappen brushed aside heated radio exchange with his engineer during 2023 Belgian GP qualifying - "We can be quite vocal or emotional"

Max Verstappen claims that his intense conversations with his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase on radio during the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix qualifying session was a normal occurrence.

Answering Sportskeeda’s question in the post-qualifying driver’s press conference, the Dutchman stated that things can get heated and intense at times over the radio. But, he added, it eventually ends up resolving the matter.

Asked by Sportskeeda to shed light on the intense conversation with his engineer and if he always had such banter, Max Verstappen laughed and said:

“I mean, that happens sometimes. Most of it is normally or always blocked off. But I think we are both… We can be quite vocal or emotional. But we always solve it afterwards. It's all good.“

He was also asked by the Dutch media if his engineer was right with the strategy. To this, the Dutchman replied:

“Honestly, there is no need for me to comment on that here. I'll discuss it with him.”

During the Q2 of the qualifying session ahead of the Belgian GP, Max Verstappen was arguing with Lambiase about his session. The world champion said that he could have gone for two timed laps, as one of his lap's times got deleted for exceeding track limits.

The Dutchman’s time was good enough for a 10th place but could have knocked him out of the second session. Angered by the result, the 26-year-old had a heated rant at his engineer where Lambiase responded by suggesting that the batteries would’ve drained as the track had got quicker.

The Red Bull driver explained that banter like this was the highlight of his rapport with his engineer and happens often during the sessions.

Describing the events of the session that got his lap time deleted, Max Verstappen said:

“I had to abort my first lap because I went wide over the white line in Turn 8 or 9. So, I had to abort that lap, then I did another slow lap. It just felt like I probably lost a little bit too much temperature in the tyres, and then, because of that mistake, I just took a lot of margin there. It was way too much. With the track ramping up that quickly, it was very, very close.”

---

Max Verstappen is targeting a win for the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix from sixth place

Despite a five-place penalty for using a new gearbox, Max Verstappen is confident he can surge through the grid effortlessly. Reminding everyone that he won from the 14th place on the grid with a slower Red Bull last year, the Dutchman is confident of a win in the race.

Explaining his gap of eighth-tenths of a second in qualifying over the rest of the field, Verstappen felt he was a bit lucky with finding the right line and grip during the penultimate moments.

“Yeah, but honestly, I do know that we have a very good car. But I think it's more just having a bit more luck with the line or the grip. You know, I think if it would have been a full dry qualifying, the gap wouldn't have been like this.”

Asked what he expected from the race with him starting from sixth place on the grid, the Dutchman said:

“I mean, last year, we started 14th and I think this year, the car is better. So I'm still targeting to win the race for sure.”

Apart from outpacing Charles Leclerc by eight-tenths of a second in the qualifying session, Max Verstappen out-qualified his own teammate Sergio Perez by ninth-tenths of a second.

Since the commencement of the 2023 season, the Belgian GP qualifying time has been the most dominant margin by which the Dutchman has out-qualified his rivals.