Max Verstappen smoothly runs his fingers through his hair.
Max Verstappen was “very cheeky” with race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase – who is owed an “apology” – over team radio in Hungary.
During the Hungarian Grand Prix, Damon Hill, the 1996 Formula 1 World Champion, expressed his disapproval of the frustrated Dutchman’s comments.
Max Verstappen told he owes Gianpiero Lambiase an ‘apology’
Several factors served to frustrate Verstappen in a difficult Hungarian GP for the World Championship leader – a race which he finished in P5 – whether it was his despair over strategy after being undercut twice – first by Lewis Hamilton and then Charles Leclerc – or his collision with Hamilton as they battled for the final podium spot.
During the race, Verstappen’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, also known as ‘GP’, faced the brunt of Verstappen’s frustration. He expressed his anger over the team radio, while GP stood his ground, resulting in a heated in-race argument between the two.
Despite Hill’s belief that Verstappen was at fault, he contends that an apology from Verstappen to his race engineer is necessary.
“I thought Max sounded a bit frustrated,” Hill is quoted by Formule1.nl.
“If you ask me, he seemed quite desperate with his constant complaining.”
“The manner in which he addressed Gianpiero seemed rather impudent to me. I believe Max owes him an apology.”
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Hill strongly believes that GP deserves an apology, but based on Verstappen’s perspective, it seems unlikely that GP will receive it.
Verstappen faced questions regarding the criticism surrounding his choice of words on team radio during the Hungary race, yet he had a resolute message directed at those critics.
Verstappen responded bluntly, stating, “They can all go away.”
Naturally, I’m annoyed, but I’ve experienced annoyance in the past. Sometimes, you use the radio to express your opinion, and that’s exactly what I did today, hoping that the second pit-stop would be a wiser decision.
However, it wasn’t distracting for me while driving. Although it may be irritating, I quickly shift my focus back to the task at hand, which is controlling the car.
He expressed, “Today has been quite frustrating for me.”
Perhaps, at that particular moment, the team was unaware of their mistake or they simply failed to recognize the severity of the situation.
However, inside the car, one experiences a range of emotions. I mentioned yesterday that perhaps certain individuals do not fully comprehend the severity of the situation.
I was aware that the race would already be challenging, and surpassing McLaren would pose a great challenge. However, the minimum expectation was to secure a position of at least P3, but unfortunately, we were unable to achieve even that.
With Oscar Piastri heading a McLaren one-two as he sealed his first Grand Prix win, McLaren has reduced Red Bull’s Constructors’ Championship lead to 51 points.
Read next – Revealed: Every word exchanged between furious Max Verstappen and Gianpiero Lambiase
