"Whether you take them or not is up to you": Max Verstappen's race engineer snaps back at the Red Bull driver

Max Verstappen was once again silenced by his race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase (GP), as the latter snapped back at the Dutchman during the Brazilian GP Sprint race. The 28-year-old started sixth at the race and was unhappy with how the car was behaving in the seven laps that he initially drove around the track.

Verstappen arrived at the Brazilian GP weekend with the hopes of reducing his deficit to the championship lead. He had emerged as the race winner 12 months ago and was touted as one of the strongest drivers entering the race weekend.

However, the Red Bull RB21 again started having issues, leading to a subpar Sprint qualifying. Verstappen said over the team radio (captured via live streaming):

"The car is just bouncing everywhere, it’s terrible; can’t keep up."

Subsequently, GP replied on the radio:

"Yeah, okay, we’ll just try get you through some recommendations for turn one; turn one looks very poor."

But, the reigning champion was unsatisfied with his race engineer's recommendations, as he said:

"It’s just wet, I have no grip."

Lambiase seemingly cut off Verstappen's rant and snapped back at him over the team radio:

"Yes, we are giving you recommendations so you avoid oversteering into the corner every lap Max, whether you take them or not it’s upto you."

Max Verstappen is in a fight for the drivers' title with McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

Max Verstappen is not too stressed about the looming championship fight

Red Bull's Max Verstappen during the 2025 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil race weekend - Source: Getty

Max Verstappen has been the lead point scorer on the grid since the paddock returned from the summer break. This had helped him reduce his championship deficit from 104 points to 36 points, arriving on the Brazilian GP weekend.

Recently, the paddock soon questioned the reigning champion about the title fight that he finds himself in, to which he replied (via F1's official website):

"We just try to do everything we can until the end. It's 36 points, still a decent gap... I think over the last few rounds we have done a very good job as a team, but of course if we want to close that down further we need to be ahead constantly now, and that I think will be a big challenge but we'll see. I'm just excited to be here and hopefully it will be a good weekend for us."