F1 News
Gianpiero Lambiase: The man whose voice Verstappen huides to success
- GPblog.com
If you've been watching Formula 1 races closely over the past few years, you've undoubtedly seen it at the pit wall at Red Bull Racing. If not, you heard him anyway: Gianpiero Lambiase, the race engineer of Max Verstappen.
It is the Italian name of the unmistakably British-sounding man who provides Verstappen with information while driving. He thus plays an important role in the performance of the Dutchman and his team, since virtually all communication between both parties is through him. That he does this well is shown by the fact that Verstappen has never changed racing engineer in his four years at Red Bull Racing.
A reliable employee
The fact that Lambiase is an excellent engineer was also demonstrated by his long track record with his previous employer. He started his Formula 1 career in 2005 with the team then called Jordan and worked there for ten years. He experienced all the name changes in Midland, Spyker and Force India.
In 2010 he became racing engineer for Vitantonio Liuzzi and when the Italian left there at the end of that season, he took that position for Paul di Resta. He worked with the shot for three years before it was replaced by Sergio Perez in 2014. After working with the Mexican for one season, Lambiase was finally picked up by a top team.
At Red Bull Racing he joined Daniil Kvyat as a racing engineer in 2015 and maintained his position when Kvyat was replaced by Verstappen. As of 2010 he has been entrusted with the role of racing engineer uninterruptedly and the drivers with whom he worked have never given up on him either.
Lambiase has found the right tone for Verstappen
This is probably because Lambiase, besides being an excellent engineer, also seems to have found the right tone to communicate with his drivers. Although Horner described him last year as an emotional guy, the radio messages with Max show that he can also be very direct.
Verstappen doesn't like chattering racing engineers and has previously indicated that he likes that direct way of talking and that he can also be very direct with Lambiase the other way around. This has ensured that the two have been working together continuously for four years now and it would be a surprise if Lambiase isn't on the podium next to him at Verstappen's first world title.