Max Verstappen’s F1 race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase has revealed his ‘intimidating’ first meeting with the champion when he joined Red Bull.

Verstappen and Lambiase’s career at Red Bull have largely ran parallel alongside one another with the British-Italian engineer joining the team in 2015, originally serving as Daniil Kvyat’s race engineer.

However, when Red Bull decided to replace the Russian with the 18-year-old Verstappen ahead of the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, Lambiase had to get used to working with an entirely new driver.

Speaking on the 10th anniversary of Verstappen’s first race win Barcelona, Lambiase revealed how ‘intimidating’, but ultimately impressive Verstappen was upon first meeting.

Lambiase said to The Athletic: “It was only my second season. So perhaps I was still trying to establish myself and finding my way. He definitely was, despite being an 18-year-old, very intimidating.

“I had worked with and been introduced to plenty of young drivers over the years. And most of them are pretty subservient, they just sit there quietly looking up at you, just believing everything you say. Max was different. He was like, ‘Well, how do I go about this? Where’s this?’ He’s already poking and probing.”

Will Verstappen follow Lambiase to McLaren

After a decade working together, which has included four championship victories, it was announced that Lambiase and Verstappen would be parting ways.

The race engineer is expected to join McLaren as their chief racing officer no later than 2028, leading to speculation that Verstappen could follow Lambiase to Woking if Red Bull’s performances do not improve.

Reports have recently circulated that McLaren are in talks with the Verstappen camp, with a direct swap between himself and Oscar Piastri touted as the likely scenario.

It is also understood by Autosport, that Red Bull are taking the possibility of a Verstappen exit seriously and, in the event he does leave, have Piastri lined up as a potential replacement.