One week following their contentious radio exchanges, Max Verstappen was caught having a heated conversation with Red Bull racing engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. The fact that the two of them seemed to be laughing together indicated that things were friendly again.
At the Hungarian Grand Prix last weekend, Verstappen was incensed with his team’s tactics and called it “s***” in a direct radio message. He also lost it because he thought Lando Norris of McLaren had outclassed him.
“All right, so you can just push people off the road now? Verstappen stated, “You can tell the FIA that’s how we’re going to race going forward—just run people off the road.” It would be “childish,” in Lambiase’s opinion, to argue with a different team.
Fans of Formula One took Lambiase’s remarks as a jab at Verstappen. Helmut Marko said that there had been a “tense” mood within the Red Bull camp.
However, Lambiase was beaming, and there seemed to be no residual hostility from their reported altercation in Hungary. Finishing fifth, Verstappen had also voiced his dissatisfaction with his car’s performance.
“I’m unable to brake or turn corners,” lamented the three-time world champion.
Horner, the team’s principal, made an effort to downplay rumors of a conflict behind the scenes.
Following the race, which was won by Oscar Piastri of McLaren, Horner remarked, “GP, I think at that point actually wasn’t referring to Max, I think he’s referring to others on the radio complaining about penalties.”
“Others are obviously goading for penalties, because obviously, the stewards are listening to the radio as well.
“We’ll discuss it as a team, but there are things we could have done better in the race today. They’ve been together for eight years.”
In the past, Verstappen dominated Formula One and won three world championships in a row. But since the June 23 Spanish Grand Prix, he has not yet won a race.
The 26-year-old’s decline in performance has given rise to a lot of conjecture about his future. Mercedes is attempting to replace Lewis Hamilton, who is off to Ferrari, with a blockbuster swap.