F1 News: Christian Horner Explains 'Childish' Reference To Max Verstappen By His Race Engineer

Saajan Jogia | Jul 22, 2024

Christian Horner, Team Principal of Oracle Red Bull Racing, speaks at the Red Bull Fan Zone, a private event at Oracle headquarters, on Wednesday October 18, 2023. / Jay Janner/American-Statesman / USA

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner explained the context of the "childish" comment by Max Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase (GP) on the radio, moments after making contact with Lewis Hamilton's W15 during the final stages of the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Verstappen gave it all the beans from his position in P5 to overtake Charles Leclerc's Ferrari, after which he shifted his attention to Hamilton to make it to the podium. However, in a bid to pass the W15 in Turn 1, Verstappen locked up on the inside line as his rear left tire made contact with his front right. The impact caused the RB20 to become airborne and then go into the gravel, leaving him to be the fifth car to cross the finish line.

The sequence of events and finding himself in an unfamiliar position during the race led to Verstappen's frustration, resulting in heated radio exchanges with Lambiase. Verstappen voiced his complaints about the car and raged on the radio about the team's strategy that dropped him down the order.

After the championship leader's encounter with Hamilton, which could've ended his race, Verstappen immediately communicated with Lambiase, complaining that Hamilton 'moved under braking!'

Sensing the frustration, Lambiase responded by saying, 'I’m not even going to get into a radio fight with the other teams, Max. We’ll let the stewards do their thing. It’s childish on the radio. Childish."

Many assumed the race engineer was labeling Verstappen as "childish". When discussing the escalating tension in the radio messages from his driver during the race, Horner was asked by the media about the use of the term "childish" by Lambiase. He explained:

“GP, I think at that point actually wasn’t referring to Max, I think he’s referring to others on the radio complaining about penalties.

“So, I don’t think GP’s reference at that point was in reference to Max. Others are obviously goading for penalties, because obviously, the stewards are listening to the radio as well.

“They’ve been together for eight years [Max and GP], and there are things that we could have done better in the race today, but it’s something that we’ll talk about as a team.”

Considering the war of words over the radio, Horner revealed that there will be discussions behind closed doors as a team. He added:

“Max was frustrated, we can understand.

“He has a very direct line of communication with his engineer, so that’s something that will be discussed between the two of them.

“I think everybody sees that we need to find more performance. Everybody’s working hard to do that, so we’ll have whatever discussions behind closed doors.”