Max Verstappen: A special moment with race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase

It was an emotional end to the Singapore F1 weekend for Max Verstappen and his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase! After winning the Sprint, the Dutchman also took victory in the race in Singapore. It is Verstappen’s first-ever Grand Prix win at the Marina Bay Street Circuit – and only his second this season.

Red Bull Racing driver Verstappen was joined on the podium by his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase – the man in his ear during the races. Alongside the top three drivers, a representative of the winning constructor is always on the podium to accept the trophy on behalf of the team. It is up to the team itself to decide who that is. This time, Red Bull Racing chose Lambiase.

Verstappen/Lambiase – a legendary F1 duo

Lambiase and Verstappen are an iconic Formula 1 duo; in the past, they have often been jokingly referred to as an old married couple because the two like to tease each other or have a bit of a go at one another over the radio, but ultimately achieve top results together and are a close-knit team. The Singapore Grand Prix was a particular challenge for the Verstappen/Lambiase duo because they struggled with radio problems throughout the race and therefore had to spontaneously switch their communication to a sort of non-verbal button-press system. Furthermore, the focus is very much on their relationship: Lambiase is set to leave Red Bull Racing – so these are their final races together.

After the race at the Marina Bay Street Circuit, Verstappen said: “I remember him saying to me last year in Vegas: ‘This might be the last time I’m on the podium.’ I said: ‘Don’t talk rubbish, we’ll win many more times.’ But I suppose I almost brought bad luck upon myself by saying that.” Although Verstappen did win in Qatar and Abu Dhabi last year, he had different teammates on the podium with him. And in the 2026 season, success was a long time coming. It was only last week in Kuala Lumpur that Verstappen secured his first win of the year. Chief trackside engineer William Goulbourne was up on the podium with him. And now in Singapore, it’s Lambiase again!

Verstappen: “It was just brilliant that they sent him up there. Of course, we all know he’s leaving us, but I think it was something really special to share the podium here on a circuit where we’d never won together before. So it was really lovely to see him up there.”

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