Christian Horner weighs in on Max Verstappen’s fallout with Red Bull engineer

Verstappen collided with Lewis Hamilton at Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix prompting his race engineer to send a radio message appearing to call the Dutchman ‘childish’

Max Verstappen collided with Lewis Hamilton at the Hungarian Grand Prix and appeared to be rebuked by his race engineer (Getty Images)

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has addressed the controversial radio exchange between three-time world champion Max Verstappen and his engineer during Sunday’s compelling battle with Lewis Hamilton.

During the Hungarian Grand Prix, a double lock-up at turn 1 caused Verstappen to collide with his Mercedes rival.

He then received a rather cryptic radio message from Gianpiero ‘GP’ Lambiase, where many suspected that the Dutchman’s long-term engineer had called him “childish.”

However, Horner has since commented on the incident, claiming that, while Lambiase could have delivered his message more clearly, the insult was not targeted at his driver.

“GP, I think at that point actually wasn’t referring to Max, I think he’s referring to others on the radio complaining about penalties,” Horner clarified after the race.

“Others are obviously goading for penalties, because obviously, the stewards are listening to the radio as well.

“They’ve been together for eight years, and there are things that we could have done better in the race today, but it’s something that we’ll talk about as a team.”

Lambiase’s response came after Verstappen was sent skyward when the wheels of his car clashed with Hamilton’s.

Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton were battling at the Hungarian Grand Prix (AFP via Getty Images)

On the radio, Lambiase expressed his frustration with the situation by saying: “I’m not even going to get into a radio fight with the other teams, Max. We’ll let the stewards do their thing. It’s childish on the radio. Childish.”

Despite chasing Hamilton down in pursuit of a podium finish, Verstappen was forced to settle for fifth place – more than 21 seconds behind Australian McLaren driver and race winner Oscar Piastri – while the Brit finished third.

Coming away from a disappointing display in Hungary, the sport’s number one driver will know that the functionality of his team needs addressing and will hope for a smoother line of communication with Lambiase in future races.