According to Tom Clarkson, Ferrari should have hired Gianpiero Lambiase as a race engineer to assist Lewis Hamilton at the Maranello-based Scuderia
After many years as Max Verstappen’s race engineer, Ferrari should have hired Gianpiero Lambiase as Lewis Hamilton’s new partner. Tom Clarkson puts forward this theory on the “F1 Nation” podcast.
Clarkson worked as a journalist for many years and now serves as a reporter for Formula One Management. In this role, he can be heard not only at official Formula 1 press conferences but also on the official fan podcast of the World Grand Prix Championship.
“McLaren made a really good decision [by signing Lambiase], because he was willing to leave Red Bull behind,” Clarkson explains. “I think GP [the race engineer’s nickname] would have been perfect for Ferrari.”
The discussion surrounding the Scuderia’s personnel is based, among other things, on Hamilton’s disappointing race weekend at Spa-Francorchamps. There, for example, the seven-time world champion had to contend with a five-second time penalty after colliding with George Russell on the first lap.
Furthermore, the Ferrari driver’s pit stop was anything but smooth. As a result, the team also missed the chance to adjust the damaged front wing of the most successful Formula 1 driver in the sport’s history.
Regarding Lambiase, Clarkson consequently remarks: “[He] speaks Italian fluently, is a brilliant engineer, and speaks English fluently. Just imagine what it would be like if he were the one [working] with Lewis Hamilton. He’d be the buffer between […] Lewis Hamilton and the rest of the team. “It really surprises me that Ferrari didn’t sign him.”
Alex Brundle, a former race car driver and TV analyst, takes a slightly more nuanced view of the situation involving Lambiase, Hamilton, and Ferrari.
“Either it would work right away, or it wouldn’t work right away,” he says. The Red Bull culture, in which even young drivers are expected to deliver top performance, is comparable to the race engineer’s communication style.
“Even when Max [Verstappen] is performing well, GP has no problem telling him over the radio: ‘Max, that’s childish. I don’t like that.’”
“I can’t imagine,” said Brundle, “that someone like Lewis Hamilton would tolerate that over the radio. If that were the style of communication, he’d adjust his environment accordingly.”
“But,” Clarkson countered, “I think GP is smart enough to get the best out of every conceivable driver. Whether it’s Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton, or Lando Norris at McLaren.”
Starting in 2028, Lambiase will work for the Woking-based team. There, he will serve as “Chief Racing Officer.” Lambiase will thus take on a role that was most recently held in addition to his duties by Team Principal Andrea Stella.
Hamilton, on the other hand, was more than enthusiastic about his new race engineer, Carlos Santi, just a few weeks ago. In fact, he referred to him as his “Italian Bono” ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix.
