Max Verstappen subjected to unusual change at Emilia Romagna GP as Red Bull break up duo
Max Verstappen struggled at a gusty Imola circuit on Friday, but he was also dealing with a major change behind the scenes.
Max Verstappen did not have his regular race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase in his ear during FP1 at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Instead, performance engineer Tom Hart enjoyed a stand-in experience as the three-time world champion endured a challenging session in Imola.
According to a report from Motorsport.com, Red Bull opted to make the change for the session to give Hart experience as a race engineer and gain a better understanding of Lambiase’s role, thus creating greater synergy in their work command chain.
This is the second time that Red Bull have executed the swap as Hart took up Lambiase’s position on the pit wall at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last season. There were seemingly no major hiccups in communication between himself and Verstappen on this occasion, but that did not mean that the Dutchman had a smooth session.
Following on from a disappointing second-place finish in Miami, Red Bull and Verstappen are targeting an immediate return to winning ways, but FP1 did not go to plan for the reigning champion. He took multiple trips across the chicane at Acque Minerale, earning a couple of bumpy rides across the grass for his troubles.
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Verstappen described his RB20 car as “a disaster” before lamenting “I have no f***ing grip there” following a particularly troubling run through Acque Minerale. He later expanded: “I can't brake later because then the car wants to bottom really badly, then on the entry to the apex I just have no f***ing front.”
Fortunately for the Dutchman, he was much more content during the early stages of FP2 reporting to Lambiase, who had resumed his position on the pit wall, that he was enjoying a much “better balance” just five minutes into the session.
However, his mood rapidly deteriorated as it became clear that Red Bull had not fixed their issues. After struggling on the soft compound tyres, he dialled into the radio to fume: "My God. I don't know man. It's so difficult everything man. This time suddenly the front grips up a lot, I almost spin."
While Red Bull struggled to extract maximum performance from the RB20, their rivals thrived. McLaren demonstrated excellent long-run pace on medium tyres, while Ferrari’s upgrades had an immediate impact on their pace as Charles Leclerc topped the timing screens for the session.