Christian Horner explained that Max Verstappen’s race engineer, Gianpiero ‘GP’ Lambiase, did not directly call the three-time world champion “childish” on team radio on Sunday, following his collision with Lewis Hamilton.
Verstappen had a double lock-up at Turn 1 as he tried to pass the Mercedes driver and ended up flying through the air when his rear tire touched Hamilton’s front, dropping him to fifth at the finish. It was the start of a series of candid radio conversations between the Red Bull driver and his regular engineer at the Hungaroring.
Christian Horner clarifies Max Verstappen’s radio message after collision with Lewis Hamilton
The world championship leader had made several complaints to his team during the race about his car’s handling, his strategy and more, but he was still in contention for the podium and managed to overtake Hamilton.
After making a manoeuvre in Turn 1, the Red Bull driver was shot into the air. The two landed hard on the track after their wheels collided. Both the driver and the engineer gave candid comments on the incident.
Verstappen exclaimed after his collision with Hamilton: “He moved under braking!”
Lambiase replied: “I’m not even going to get into a radio fight with the other teams, Max. We let the stewards do their thing. It’s childish on the radio. Childish.”
Discussing his driver’s increasingly heated radio messages as the race progressed, Horner was asked about Verstappen’s race engineer’s ‘childish’ label. The team boss was quick to point out what he meant at the time.
“GP, I don’t think he was referring to Max at that point, but to others on the radio who were complaining about penalties,” Horner said after the race.
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“So I don’t think GP’s reference at that moment was about Max. Others are clearly provoking for penalties, because of course the stewards are listening to the radio as well.
“They’ve been together for eight years and there are things we could have done better in the race today, but it’s something we’ll talk about as a team.”
Verstappen and Lambiase have been described by Horner in the past as an ‘old married couple’, with them openly exchanging their opinions over time.
But after the disappointing Hungarian Grand Prix, the Red Bull team boss said they will have the necessary discussions away from public view.
“Max was frustrated, we can understand that,” he said.
“He communicates very directly with his engineer, so that’s something they’ll discuss together.
“I think everyone sees that we need to find more performance. Everyone is working hard on it, so we will have all discussions behind closed doors.”
Read more: Max Verstappen lashes out at critics after tense Hungarian GP: ‘They can all go to hell’