Radio problems forced Verstappen and Lambiase to resort to unusual methods in Singapore, whilst a personnel change is on the cards at Red Bull
There were still two races on the current Formula 1 calendar missing from Max Verstappen’s list of victories: the new Madring in Madrid and the Marina Bay Circuit in Singapore. The fact that Formula 1 only raced on the Madrid street circuit for the first time this year explains one of these. Singapore, on the other hand, proved to be Red Bull’s Achilles’ heel for years – until 2026.
This time, Verstappen dominated in Singapore, securing two pole positions and two victories over the sprint weekend. But what sounds deceptively simple was anything but: starts continue to cause problems for Red Bull, even though Verstappen held his position this time.
And then, to make matters worse, the radio link failed in Singapore – at least for Verstappen in the cockpit: The four-time world champion could still hear the team, but his replies didn’t come through clearly.
“Maybe Gianpiero Lambiase was actually glad it wasn’t working,” Verstappen joked at the post-race press conference. More seriously, he added: “I couldn’t really say anything. At one point, he tried to ask a few things using code, and I think he understood quite well what I meant or what I didn’t want.”
“It’s never pleasant. I’ve been having problems with my radio all season, and this weekend it was particularly bad.”
This meant that Lambiase had to get creative to get feedback from Verstappen. In the closing stages of the race, he told the Dutchman to stay quiet if he wanted to come into the pits again during a safety car period, and to press the radio button if he’d rather stay on the track. It worked.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies made it clear that these radio problems were exclusively on the Red Bull side and had nothing to do with general technical issues in Singapore.
“It wasn’t the same problem as in the first free practice session, but it was a bit of a struggle,” said Mekies. “These cars are complicated, and there has to be a huge amount of communication between drivers and engineers. But as we saw, ‘GP’ found ways to communicate with Max – and vice versa – when it mattered.”
“Of course, we take this as seriously as everything else. And I’m sure we’ll come back with a good solution, because something like this can cost valuable time at crucial moments.”
Hart replaces Lambiase in Austin as Verstappen’s race engineer
As a reward for all his efforts, Red Bull sent Lambiase up onto the podium alongside Verstappen. This came as a surprise even to the four-time world champion: “I hadn’t expected that,” said Verstappen.
“I remember him saying to me last year in Las Vegas: ‘This might be the last time I stand on the podium.’ I said: ‘Don’t be silly, we’ll win many more.’ But I suppose I almost jinxed it by saying that.”
“It was just brilliant that they sent him up there. We all know he’s leaving, but I think it was something very special to share the podium with him on a circuit where we’d never won together before. So it was really lovely to see him up there,” said Verstappen.
At the same time, Red Bull is preparing for the handover to Verstappen’s future race engineer, Tom Hart. Originally, Hart was due to move to Williams to become Alexander Albon’s race engineer. However, when Verstappen made it clear internally who he preferred as Lambiase’s successor, Red Bull did everything in its power to reverse this move and keep Hart – with success.
There is as yet no official date for when Hart will permanently take over from Lambiase. Red Bull is, however, in talks with McLaren regarding Lambiase’s start date there and his notice period. The timing of the handover depends in part on these arrangements. 2027 appears to be the logical timeframe.
Before then, Hart and Verstappen will already have the opportunity to gel over several race weekends. that Hart will already be acting as Verstappen’s race engineer in Austin, Brazil and Las Vegas, replacing Lambiase in this role.
The team added that Lambiase will continue to be at the circuit on these weekends and carry out his duties as head of race operations.