25 of the most memorable radio exchanges from the ‘Max and GP show’

Is Gianpiero Lambiase’s decision to leave Red Bull in 2028 a sign Max Verstappen is planning to hang up his helmet by then?

Regardless, with Lambiase taking on the role of chief racing officer when he joins McLaren, one of Formula 1’s most successful and enduring partnerships between driver and engineer now has an end date stamped on it.

The combination of Lambiase’s unflappable style and Verstappen’s tendency to shoot from the hip has produced many entertaining exchanges between the pair over their 10 years together. Here’s a selection of the highlights.

“Unbelievable”: 2016 Spanish Grand Prix

Verstappen won his first race after his shock switch to Red Bull’s top team from its junior squad Toro Rosso, in the days when Formula One Management did not broadcast the drivers’ radios in full.

“Face to face with Godzilla”: 2016 Singapore Grand Prix

Verstappen’s encounter with a monitor lizard on the track during practice in Singapore in 2016 had a sequel at the same track seven years later.

When Verstappen spotted another lizard on the same track in 2023 he remarked to Lambiase it was “a smaller one this time.” “Maybe Godzilla had a kid,” Lambiase suggested.

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“Well held”: 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix

At a soaked Interlagos, Verstappen recovered from a costly pit stop to claim the final place on the podium. Lambiase spoke for everyone when he praised Verstappen’s car control for keeping his Red Bull out of the barriers when it snapped sideways underneath him at one point.

Read more of Verstappen and Lambiase’s radio messages from this race:

• 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix radio transcript

“Simply, mate”: 2017 Mexican Grand Prix

“Simply lovely” became a repeated refrain between the pair as Verstappen amassed more successes. It first appeared when he gained the lead at the start of the 2017 Mexican Grand Prix after championship contenders Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton tangled. Lambiase joined his driver on the podium to celebrate his third win.

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“Max, overtake him”: 2018 Austrian Grand Prix qualifying

By his third season at Red Bull, the competition between Verstappen and team mate Daniel Ricciardo was becoming increasingly strained. The pair collided while fighting for position in Baku.

Then in qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix, Ricciardo was unwilling to lead his team mate out onto the track, allowing Verstappen to benefit from his slipstream. “There’s no point me running” and “punching a hole” for Verstappen complained Ricciardo, while his race engineer Simon Rennie told him twice to “get on with it.”

Lambiase became concerned that waiting behind Ricciardo was going to cost Verstappen his chance to set a lap time. But Verstappen refused to pass his team mate and insisted he follow their arrangement.

Verstappen duly took fourth on the grid – three places ahead of Ricciardo – and went on to win the race.

“I’m sure you can imagine where that delta is”: 2018 United States Grand Prix

The shortcomings of Red Bull’s Renault power unit (branded as TAG Heuer) was a regular theme of the complaints between Verstappen and Lambiase in their early years together. However it didn’t prevent them pulling off some excellent results, as when he climbed 16 places to finish second at the Circuit of the Americas:

Read more of Verstappen and Lambiase’s radio messages from this race:

• 300 team radio messages from the 2018 United States Grand Prix

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“Please slow it down”: 2018 Mexican Grand Prix

On a day when Verstappen’s rivals complained their tyres were “a disgrace for Formula 1”, Lambiase pleaded with Verstappen to take care of his rubber on his way to victory in Mexico:

Read more of Verstappen and Lambiase’s radio messages from this race:

• 300 team radio messages from the 2018 Mexican Grand Prix

“He’s out on fresh supers”: 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix

Verstappen was on course for his sixth win when Esteban Ocon appeared in his mirrors at Interlagos. Ocon, who had just left the pits on fresh rubber, attempted to un-lap himself from Verstappen, but the pair made contact, sending the Red Bull spinning and costing him the victory.

A furious Verstappen confronted and shoved Ocon in the paddock after the race. While the Force India driver was penalised for the collision, the FIA ordered Verstappen to perform two days of public service for pushing him.

Read more of Verstappen and Lambiase’s radio messages from this race:

• Team radio highlights from the 2018 Brazilian Grand Prix

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“We’re a little bit close”: 2020 70th Anniversary Grand Prix

Equipped with a Honda power unit from 2019, Verstappen became a more regular threat for victory, though Mercedes remained the team to beat. In the fifth round of the pandemic-disrupted 2020 season – a second race at Silverstone dubbed the ’70th Anniversary Grand Prix’ – Verstappen overruled Lambiase’s warnings about his tyres to take the lead and win.

table class=’brandedtable radio-transcript’>

Lambiase: Max I think we’re a little bit close for tyres at this stage. Verstappen: Mate, this is the only chance of being close to the Mercedes, I’m not sitting behind like a grandma.

After the race team principal Christian Horner said Verstappen had been “absolutely right” to overrule Lambiase.

“You don’t need to repeat it again”: 2020 Spanish Grand Prix

But at the Circuit de Catalunya the Red Bull was clearly not quick enough to challenge the Mercedes. Verstappen told Lambiase there was little point being preoccupied with them:

“Final front wing update”: 2021 Spanish Grand Prix

The situation was very different in 2021, when Verstappen fought Hamilton for the world championship. Hamilton’s victory in Spain came after a rare lapse on the Red Bull pit wall which saw Verstappen appear for a tyre change before Lambiase had summoned him in.

Verstappen arrived in the pit lane after the following exchange. “We hadn’t actually called him in at that point,” Horner confirmed afterwards. “[It was] quick reactions from the pit wall, from GP, his race engineer, from the pit crew to get that turned around without losing more time. I think it was a four-second stop.”:

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“One piece of luck”: 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Verstappen clinched the title in a controversial finale at Yas Marina, where race director Michael Masi caused outrage by breaking the rules to order a last-lap restart, while moving only enough lapped cars out of the way to give Verstappen a clear shot at Hamilton.

Verstappen had kept within range of his rival partly thanks to his team mate Sergio Perez holding Hamilton up:

This meant that when the Safety Car was deployed, Hamilton was not far enough ahead of Verstappen to be able to pit without falling behind his rival. Red Bull therefore took advantage of the opportunity to put Verstappen on fresh tyres, and the controversial restart gave him the opportunity to pass:

Although the circumstances of Verstappen’s triumph provoked enormous criticism, leading to Masi’s firing and sweeping changes in the FIA’s management of races, the Red Bull driver had fought a remarkably strong campaign to arrive at the final round tied in the points with Hamilton. After his shock championship win, Lambiase told him the last-lap restart was the first piece of luck he’d had all year:

Read all of Verstappen and Lambiase’s radio messages from this race:

• Verstappen and Hamilton’s 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix radio transcript

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“Box, box, box”: 2022 Singapore Grand Prix qualifying

One of the least enjoyable radio messages Lambiase had to give Verstappen occured in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix this following year. Red Bull misjudged Verstappen’s fuel level and Lambiase had to tell him to abort his final flying lap. That left him ninth on the grid while Perez qualified on the front row and won the race:

“There seems to be some confusion”: 2022 Japanese Grand Prix

Verstappen successfully defended his championship but for the second year in a row the title was decided in farcical circumstances. The Japanese Grand Prix was shortened due to rain, meaning Red Bull were initially unsure if the race had finished. On top of that, full points were unexpectedly awarded for the shortened race, owing to a poorly-written new FIA rule, so Verstappen did not immediately realise he had in fact won his second title.

“You’ve used up all your strikes”: 2022 United States Grand Prix

Verstappen produced one of the most dominant performances ever as he won his second title. He claimed his 13th win of the year in Austin after a straightforward DRS pass on Hamilton, but Lambiase had to urge him not to stray beyond track limits over the final laps or risk a five second penalty. Verstappen had an insurance policy against that, however – he crossed the line 5.023 seconds ahead of Hamilton.

Read more of Verstappen and Lambiase’s radio messages from this race:

• “He’s gone off again”: Hamilton and Verstappen’s US GP battle

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“Let Checo through”: 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix

In the final laps of the Brazilian Grand Prix that year Red Bull allowed Verstappen past Perez in the hope he could attack cars ahead, on the understanding that if he failed, he would let Perez through again. However Verstappen refused to give the place back.

“It shows who he really is,” Perez remarked. Horner apologised to Perez afterwards, but Verstappen had proven again there were some calls from Lambiase he would not obey.

“Okay, box and pit confirm then”: 2023 Austrian Grand Prix

While Verstappen routed the field even more comprehensively in 2023, he had to find entertainment in other ways, such as by convincing Lambiase to let him have a go at the fastest lap in Austria that year:

Read more of Verstappen and Lambiase’s radio messages from this race:

• “Don’t f*** it up”: How Verstappen persuaded Red Bull to allow his fastest lap bid

“How would that have gone down?”: 2023 Belgian Grand Prix qualifying

Verstappen and Lambiase had an unusually tense weekend at Spa that year, beginning in qualifying where they came close to being eliminated in Q2. While Verstappen complained he was put under pressure to set a fast lap at the very end of the session, Lambiase pointed out they had to take advantage of the optimum conditions at that point:

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“Not this time”: 2023 Belgian Grand Prix

The following day Lambiase was unwilling to go along with another request from Verstappen to attempt the fastest lap: