‘It’s well-thought about’ – Max Verstappen not concerned by impact of race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase’s promotion at Red Bull

Max Verstappen has brushed off any concerns about how the recent promotion of his long-time race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase could affect the work that the pair do together, with Lambiase set to continue race engineering Verstappen alongside his new role at Red Bull.

It was revealed earlier in September that Lambiase will become Head of Racing as part of a restructure at the squad, following the news that Sporting Director Jonathan Wheatley is to depart next year to take on the position of Team Principal at Sauber/Audi.

Lambiase’s new job means that he will head up all trackside activities – with Red Bull having opted to split Wheatley’s duties amongst several existing staff rather than replacing him directly – whilst remaining as Verstappen’s race engineer, a role he has held since the Dutchman joined the team in 2016.

Verstappen was asked during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend if he was concerned by the possibility of Lambiase’s heightened level of responsibility taking him away from their race engineering work together.

SPA, BELGIUM - JULY 26: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands and Oracle Red Bull Racing talks with — Lambiase has acted as Verstappen's race engineer since the Dutchman joined Red Bull in 2016

“No, it doesn't,” Verstappen explained. “I mean, he already did more than just being my race engineer anyway, so I think it's well-thought about and basically spreading a bit the workload. So for me, that's fine.”

That aside, Verstappen’s focus is now on how the team can make progress on the track during the final six races of the season, having been overhauled by McLaren at the top of the constructors’ standings.

Following a short pause in the calendar, the United States Grand Prix will kick off a triple header of races when the action resumes, before another sequence of three Grands Prix follows to conclude the campaign.

Pushed on whether the race in Austin could be ‘make or break’ in terms of defining how the championship picture looks going forward, Verstappen responded: “I don't know if it's a make or break, but from now on, of course, we want to make steps forward.

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - SEPTEMBER 22: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red — Verstappen is hopeful that Red Bull still have time to improve their car during the final rounds of the championship

“When or how it will arrive, I don't know yet. But we're just trying to get the balance back together. I think Baku is already a small step forward, so we just need to continue that route.

“And yeah, of course, here this weekend [in Singapore], you can't really do a lot from Baku, but hopefully with the two, three weeks that we have [after Singapore], we can make some further improvements.

“There's still a few more rounds left where I think we can improve the car, which will also help for next year.”