How Vettel played a key role in Verstappen's Red Bull engineer relationship

Red Bull is everywhere right now in Formula 1. It’s dominating the current season, with Max Verstappen well on his way to securing a third successive world title, celebrating 100 wins in the championship after the Dutchman’s victory last time out in Canada, and now heading to the next race at its home track.

It’s even arranging a motorsport celebration event at the Nurburgring 12 Hours race meeting in September, where AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda will lap the Nordschleife in a Honda NSX GT3 Evo, while Red Bull reserve – and possible future AlphaTauri returnee – Daniel Ricciardo will do so too in an RB8 2012 F1 car. Verstappen wanted to join in the demonstration fun but was overruled by Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko…

Headlining the whole thing, however, is a former Red Bull star. Its first, really. Sebastian Vettel – set to be reunited with his 2011 championship-winning RB7, albeit adapted to run on carbon-neutral fuel.

Vettel kicked off the cascade of Red Bull F1 success with its first victory in China 2009 – having already broken Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri’s duck and rather upstaged the main team with his famous wet win in Monza the previous season. Around, Vettel Red Bull learned how to go about really winning, as it grew from upstart newcomer at F1’s top table to the super team pack leader of the early 2010s and again today. That process wasn’t without its challenges – specifically here managing drivers.

Back then, Vettel was the young star and perfect embodiment of the extreme sports lifestyle Red Bull’s marketing management wanted to use to promote its core product, as it had done so successfully in other sports. This clashed with Vettel’s then team-mate, Mark Webber, whose story was very different – the Australian finally in a top car and out to prove wrong the detractors who’d felt he wasn’t cut out to succeed at the top level in F1.

Webber’s ‘Aussie Grit’ persona and strong-willed reputation was only enhanced by his battling reactions to the Turkey 2010 intra-Red Bull crash and his “not bad for a number two driver” comment following his Silverstone win that year. Two of the protagonists of that time – Webber and team boss Christian Horner – even a decade after the Australian’s departure from the team, remain reluctant to expand upon the details of what was clearly a fractious period. It plays into the understanding that no massive sporting success story is built on an easy ride.

Red Bull built up to being a regular winner during the V8 era, but it wasn't without friction as Malaysia 2013 famously demonstrated

Photo by: Patrik Lundin / Motorsport Images

“Obviously, there were a few moments that were uncomfortable for the team in the rivalry that there was between Mark and Seb,” Horner tells Autosport. “Which, with the benefit of hindsight you look back on now and you think some of it was a bit silly. But you’re always learning in the business and we continue to learn on a daily basis.”

PLUS: The six key Red Bull F1 wins that highlight its evolution from 2009 to 2023

Back in 2010 and onwards through to his departure from Red Bull, the team learned ever more about Vettel, who Horner says was a “great guy to work with” and “hugely committed and incredibly hard-working”.

“Very methodical and organised in the way he went about his racing,” Horner adds. “He pushed the team hard and we delivered for him. He would go to see the Pirelli factory to understand how the tyres were manufactured – go to that length of detail.

"Max is a strong character to deal with and GP is equally as feisty. So, sometimes they’re like an old married couple arguing about what channel to watch on the TV" Christian Horner

“He just wanted more and more information. And I think we gave him an environment that he flourished [in]. His personality was infectious and we saw him grow up here.”

That last point is even more the case for Verstappen. Red Bull’s current star joined F1 in 2015 aged just 17 (Vettel was 19 when he did likewise in 2007) and only a year older when he was handed his shock promotion to the senior team at Barcelona in 2016 as Daniil Kvyat’s replacement.

Verstappen ended up as Vettel’s successor in the Red Bull story, not Ricciardo, who had joined when Webber left after 2013, nor Kvyat following Vettel’s own surprise departure – to Ferrari in the second year of the turbo hybrid era. When asked to compare them, Horner says Vettel and Verstappen are “two entirely different characters”, with the latter “the most straightforward driver that I’ve ever had”.

“You bolt him in, you know that you’re going to get 110%,” Horner continues. “He’ll expect 110% back. He’ll tell you exactly how it is, what’s in his mind at that point in time. He’s just an out-and-out racer. And he’s very straightforward in that respect to work with.”

But there is a link between the two Red Bull world champions – beyond their youthful starts, clashes with team-mates and wilder moments of on-track excess. Horner says this can be seen in how his squad maintains the most vital link to Verstappen during races: via his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase.

Lambiase's reputation and profile is increasing all the time, and his dynamic with Verstappen gets the best from the Dutchman

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Lambiase, better known as ‘GP’, is following in the fame footsteps of Lewis Hamilton’s in-race garage lieutenant – Mercedes’ Peter Bonnington. As the voice in the ear of the driver of the era, played out to a massive audience at every race Verstappen where is a central component (read, all of them, right now), Lambiase’s own recognition is building. Perhaps one day he too will sign autographs for fans, as Autosport observed Bonnington doing in Singapore last year – if he doesn’t already.

Lambiase’s burgeoning reputation is enhanced by the brilliant and brutally sarcastic way he interacts with Verstappen when required, which is perfect for social media clipping needing to go viral as a key part of sports promotion in the current age. But Horner says Red Bull has “absolutely” empowered Lambiase to do this, as it’s a key part of the team getting the best from its star driver.

“It’s his job, he’s the interface with the driver on the track,” Horner adds. “Max is a strong character to deal with and GP is equally as feisty. So, sometimes they’re like an old married couple arguing about what channel to watch on the TV, but there’s a real respect and a trust and a relationship between the two of them.”

The dynamic is clearly working very well for Verstappen. And Lambiase’s seemingly savage cold detachment to his driver is an important part of the job he has to do – bigger since last summer when he took over from Guillaume Rocquelin (known to many F1 fans as ‘Rocky’ when it was him heard encouraging and cajoling Vettel over the airwaves a decade ago) as Red Bull’s racing engineering chief.

Lambiase’s more emotional side could be heard in his reaction to Verstappen’s controversial win in the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. There his shouted celebrations sounded so different to his usual calm persona some wondered if Alex Albon (then Red Bull’s reserve driver) was being heard instead. And Horner has now revealed that, inadvertently, Vettel played a role in forming F1’s latest driver-engineer power couple.

“GP has grown a huge amount,” Horner says of Lambiase. “GP originally came as a replacement [for 2015] to Rocky, who was stepping up into the role as head of race engineering – the role that GP effectively has now.

“And GP went through a gruelling process that included being interviewed at length by Sebastian to become Rocky’s successor [as Vettel’s race engineer]. And he committed to join the team and shortly afterwards Sebastian buggered off to Ferrari!

“So, GP came to engineer Sebastian Vettel and got Daniil Kvyat! Who he did a great job with and then obviously when Max stepped up and into the main seat, the two of them built a bond very quickly and it’s been hugely successful.”

Lambiase joined Red Bull after a lengthy interview with Vettel, whose departure meant he was paired instead with Kvyat

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

How successful the Verstappen/Lambiase partnership is proving right now is one of the conundrums facing F1 overall right now. It can be clearly seen in certain demographic data that interest in the championship has dipped compared to the fervent interest that accompanied that wild 2021 season and the Red Bull versus Ferrari fight of early last year. And Red Bull’s 2021 cost cap breach was a clear reputation hit, which must be weighed in any assessment of team’s current purple patch.

PLUS: The curious case of Red Bull's place in F1 history

But a report on Sky Sports in the Daily Telegraph this week claimed, “audience numbers for the Premier League, the Carabao Cup final, Formula 1 and the much admired Ashes cricket coverage have each set all-time records over recent months”. And F1’s current box office appeal can be seen in Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Michael B. Jordan being among those buying into Alpine this week.

"GP went through a gruelling process that included being interviewed at length by Sebastian to become Rocky’s successor. And he committed to join the team and shortly afterwards Sebastian buggered off to Ferrari!" Christian Horner

Autosport understands that Silverstone next week is set to welcome 450,000 fans – breaking its record weekend attendance from last year by 50,000. Most of those tickets were of course sold in 2022 and so the impact on interest levels of one team and driver dominating won’t be seen just yet. The overall consequences – because the common sports knowledge that domination ends up as a turn-off still holds true – will only be felt later as the current ripple spreads. But that is a challenge for F1 itself.

PLUS: The F1 cycles of staying ahead of the opposition

For Red Bull, it’s about maintaining and maximising its position. It ultimately didn’t do that with Vettel post-2013 thanks to Mercedes nailing the engine rule changes at the start of the V6 turbo hybrid era. And the changes coming for 2026 represent an obvious parallel – the next great test for a team that is everywhere right now.

Lambiase calling the shots for Verstappen wins has been a feature of F1 2023 so far, and isn't likely to change based on current form

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool