"Slowly getting used to it, Max": What happened during heated exchange between Max Verstappen and his race engineer during F1 Belgian GP qualifying

Max Verstappen recently had a heated argument with his Red Bull race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, during the 2023 F1 Belgian GP qualifying session.

Verstappen barely managed to make it into Q3 after he was unable to clock in a fast lap at the very last moment due to the gradually drying track that allowed other drivers to lap faster with every lap. Most of the drivers started their laps after the Red Bull driver, which caused them to get better lap times in.

Max Verstappen ended the Q2 session in P10, just one place above the drop zone. After the session, the Dutchman was extremely angry and immediately came on the radio to his race engineer and lashed out at him about how he should have done a flying lap on both of his last two laps to clock in a better time. He said:

“We should have just f****** pushed two laps in a row like I said.”

The race engineer assured Verstappen that he was through to Q3 and that all was under control, saying:

“You are through, Max.”

Still angry with how closely he shaved off the Q3 session, Verstappen snapped back:

“I don’t give a f*** if I’m through in P10. It was s*** execution.”

Lambiase was not shy about sharing the reasoning behind why Verstappen could not have done a second fast lap, saying that the driver would have run out of energy (battery power) on his F1 car. Red Bull's race engineer said:

"OK, and then when the track was 2s quicker for your final lap and you didn't have any energy left, how would that have gone down? But you tell me what you want to do in Q3, and we'll do it. Sets, fuel, run plan."

In Q3, Max Verstappen was easily able to top the timing sheets in the end, though he will not start the race on pole position due to his 5-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change. After the session, Verstappen came back on the radio and apologized for lashing out at GP. He said:

"Sorry to GP for being so on a rant."

GP was quick to reply in a humorous way that he is gradually getting used to Verstappen's rants if something does not go perfectly according to him. He said:

"Slowly getting used to it, Max."

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Max Verstappen thoughts on the heated argument with his race engineer at the Belgian GP qualifying

After the 2023 F1 Belgian GP qualifying session, Max Verstappen was asked by Sportskeeda for his thoughts on his fiery argument with his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase. Verstappen laughed and replied lightly:

“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.“

It is safe to say that the Red Bull driver has an open and honest relationship with his race engineer.