Four-time F1 champion Max Verstappen's race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase (GP) broke down after the 2025 Abu Dhabi GP, with former Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko consoling him. After the season finale, reports of GP leaving the team started circling the paddock, but the Milton Keynes-based outfit has shared an update about Verstappen's race engineer.Gianpiero Lambiase has been Max Verstappen's race engineer since the Dutchman joined Red Bull Racing midway through the 2016 season. The two won four consecutive F1 titles as a duo from 2021 to 2024. However, GP’s future as Verstappen's race engineer for 2026 was cloudy.Earlier reports suggested that Gianpiero Lambiase is likely to take up another role at Red Bull Racing and work from the Milton Keynes-based factory rather than flying to each race. GP already missed the Austrian and the Belgian GP this year due to personal reasons.Some sources came out and suggested that Max Verstappen's race engineer broke down after the 2025 Abu Dhabi GP, not because of losing the F1, but because he's had a difficult year for reasons private to him.Amid the rumours of GP leaving the Dutchman's side as the race engineer for 2026, RN365 came out and suggested that the speculation around Verstappen's race engineer wasn't true. The 45-year-old will continue in his current role at Red Bull Racing. View this post on Instagram Instagram PostReports of GP and Max Verstappen's split came after the Abu Dhabi GP, around the same time when reports of Helmut Marko splitting with the team came about. Red Bull advisor Marko had a meeting with CEO Oliver Mintzlaff in Abu Dhabi, after the Grand Prix, and it was decided that the Austrian would retire from the sport.Max Verstappen reflects on Gianpiero Lambiase’s emotional reaction after the Abu Dhabi GP GP took to the team radio after the race and asked the Dutchman to be proud of what he achieved in 2025 and keep his head up. Max Verstappen responded and suggested that he was disappointed at all. As the four-time champion parked up the car, GP burst into tears on the pit wall.After the race, Verstappen was questioned about his race engineer’s emotional reaction, to which he responded,“It’s been an emotional year. Forget about the results this year. I also don’t want to go too much into detail, but it’s been tough. But I’m very happy to be able to work with someone that passionate.”“Of course, he is my race engineer, but I see him as my friend. We have lived through so many emotional things together and fantastic achievements. I’m sure he was a bit emotional after the flag. So, I’m really looking forward to leaving here and catching up with him because it’s not been easy at times for him,” added Verstappen.Adrian Newey, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko have all left the Milton Keynes-based outfit in the last couple of years, and were the three pillars who made Red Bull the championship-contending team they are.