The pair’s exchanges became the subject of regular focus in a season starved of alternative narratives overall thanks to Red Bull’s crushingly dominant position at the head of the pecking order.
When Autosport asked the world champion about their relationship in an exclusive interview, Verstappen said he appreciated Lambiase’s often cutting tone.
“It’s how the relationship works,” Verstappen explained. “I would be very, not upset, but I wouldn’t want to have an engineer who is very monotone or just says ‘copy… check that’.
When asked if he needed to be challenged by Lambiase to perform at his best in 2023, Verstappen replied: “Yeah, you just need a bit of fire. That’s how I like to operate.”
The Dutch driver also said “I guess people love it” when it came to how much air time their often terse team radio exchanges were given in F1’s TV broadcasts in the season just gone.
“But that’s our relationship,” he continued. “We are very straightforward and if we don’t like something we of course communicate.
“It’s also a bit F1’s fault [that the messages get so much attention] because they broadcast everything just to throw it out there.
Source: Autosport