Max Verstappen has voiced his reaction to the bombshell news that Gianpiero Lambiase will depart the Red Bull team.
Lambiase has served as Verstappen's race engineer since the Dutchman joined the squad shortly after the start of the 2016 season.
Together, the duo have formed one of the most successful driver-engineer partnerships in F1 history.
However, with Lambiase now seeking a new career challenge at McLaren from 2028, the working relationship will come to a close.
Issuing his thoughts on the situation, Verstappen revealed that Lambiase confided in the four-time champion before accepting the offer.
“He told me what kind of offer he’d received,” Verstappen told Viaplay. “I said: ‘You’d be daft not to take it.’
“We’ve already achieved everything together and then he gets such a fantastic offer, especially with his family in mind and the security it would bring him.
“He asked me for my approval, so to speak, and I told him he absolutely had to go for it.
“He really wanted to hear that from me.”
Verstappen has previously declared that his term at Red Bull would only continue as long as Lambiase was his right-hand man.
However, Verstappen's father Jos recently stated that he no longer expects that to be the case, insisting his son is likely to “just continue” after Lambiase's exit.
Verstappen has endured a difficult opening three rounds to the campaign and currently sits ninth in the standings.
Originally published by RacingNews365 —
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