Watch: Max Verstappen and his engineer Gianpiero Lambiase joke around as the Red Bull driver wipes out the field in the F1 Belgian GP FP1

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase had a lighthearted interaction during the FP1 session at the Spa-Francorchamps track for the 2024 Belgian GP. The three-time world champion displayed his dominance around the iconic track as he wiped out the field to finish more than half a second ahead of McLaren's Oscar Piastri on Friday.

The Dutch driver, who will be taking a 10-place grid penalty for changing power unit components for the Grand Prix, has been a problem for the others at Spa-Francorchamps since 2021 and won the previous two editions of the race starting below Top 5.

In the FP1 session on Friday, Verstappen shared a joke with Lambiase when the Anglo-Italian accidentally came on the radio and asked:

"What do you think our timings are?"

Verstappen replied:

"You tell me the timing. Ha."

Realizing his mistake, Lambiase said:

"No. Apologies, Max."

The 26-year-old heartily accepted the apology. The tone of the conversation was a marked change from Red Bull's fiery team radio exchanges at last weekend's Hungarian GP.

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Max Verstappen previews the Belgian GP this weekend

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen discussed the upcoming Belgian GP where he takes to a new Internal Combustion Engine for the race.

As per F1.com, the Dutchman said:

"If you look at our last few races where we haven’t particularly been the fastest, I wouldn’t say that with 10 places extra we have a chance of winning. But again, a race can always be turned upside down in moments. We have to be open-minded and try to make the best of it. That’s what we’ll try to do. At the moment, I also don’t know how competitive we’re going to be here."

“Also, a few places there’s new tarmac, so we need to see how the tires respond to that as well. So, still a lot of unknowns. Obviously, with the weather, quite a bit of rain is expected on Friday and Saturday. So yeah, just need to follow the weather and just progress through the weekend, and see how competitive we are,” he added.

When asked if P8 is the highest position he is expecting for the weekend, Verstappen replied:

“I hope a little bit more, but let’s see. I don’t know, it’s difficult to predict at the moment.”

Given his performance in the FP1 session, Verstappen could still be a contender for a race win on Sunday despite the rivals being closer. In 2022 and 2023, he won the race from P14 and P6, respectively, having similarly taken engine penalties on the weekend.