Verstappen: “I would have been an idiot if I had held back Lambiase”

Verstappen splits from Lambiase Max Verstappen has seen his historic Red Bull group crumble in recent years. One after another, the “behind the scenes” protagonists of his golden cycle have left, starting from Adrian Newey and ending with Gianpiero Lambiase. The separation with the track engineer, expected no later than 2028, occurred after a dialogue between the driver and Lambiase himself, who the Dutchman considers a sort of older brother. Super Max itself encouraged the Briton to leave, considering McLaren’s indispensable offer. In Miami Verstappen returned to the topic, bluntly stating that he would have been “an idiot” if he had kept the race engineer at Red Bull. Verstappen’s words “I think times change, and that I will have to work with someone else. Given the offer he received, I would have been an idiot if I had tried to keep him. It’s not always just about me, but also about his career and his future: for me it was an obvious choice, but now we look to the future and collaborate with different engineers. I’m sure we will find solutions”, commented the four-time world champion. “We have a very honest and open relationship, everything went well. I wish him the best and on my part there are no hard feelings: as a team, we look to the future and want to improve,” he added. To those who asked him if Lambiase’s farewell could accelerate the retirement scenario feared after Suzuka, Verstappen replied very clearly: “His departure has nothing to do with my future”.

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News
2026-05-01 18:00:00