Max Verstappen justified his animated discussions with his race engineer in Spa. The Dutchman claims he wants to keep the entire Red Bull team under pressure during Grand Prix weekends.
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The exchanges between Max Verstappen and Gianpiero Lambiase once again enlivened the radios during the Belgian Grand Prix. While some conversations may have seemed tense, the Red Bull driver assures that they simply reflect his level of demand towards his team.
Second on the grid and then third at the finish behind Kimi Antonelli and Charles Leclerc, the four-time world champion had an encouraging weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.
Messages that had nothing to do with each other
During the race, Lambiase had notably warned Verstappen that his front tires were too cold and asked him to increase the pace to bring them up to temperature.
The Dutchman immediately replied that, in his opinion, that was not the real problem.
At another point in the race, Verstappen also referred to the engineers on the pit wall and their data analysis.
Asked about these different exchanges, he clarified that they concerned completely distinct subjects.
“All the things you mentioned were not related to each other. The cold tires concerned one subject, and the people in front of their computers concerned another.”
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“I want everyone to stay vigilant”
Verstappen readily admits that he likes to maintain high standards within Red Bull.
“I just like everyone to stay on their toes.”
Even though he knows everyone is doing their best, the Dutch driver believes no slackening is allowed.
“I know everyone is doing their best, but we are not here to have fun. We must remain focused and vigilant at every moment of the race.”
A reciprocal demand
For Verstappen, this constant pressure works both ways.
The four-time world champion expects the maximum from his team, knowing that Red Bull has the same expectations of him.
“I demand the maximum and the best from everyone, because that’s also what they expect from me.”
This philosophy illustrates the mindset within Red Bull. Even in a more complicated season than previous ones, where Mercedes and Ferrari seem to have gained the upper hand on several occasions, Verstappen refuses to lower his standards and intends to push his team to exploit every detail to stay in the fight at the forefront.
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