P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Max Verstappen has lost a key F1 ally for this weekend’s race at the Belgian Grand Prix after a Red Bull replacement was confirmed.
Max Verstappen has lost a key F1 ally for this weekend’s race at the Belgian Grand Prix after a Red Bull replacement was confirmed. The Milton-Keynes based outfit has undergone a major change in recent weeks following the axe of Christian Horner, and the promotion of Laurent Mekies to Red Bull team principal. Verstappen will have to contend with further, albeit temporary, changes at the Belgian GP this weekend, where long-term race engineer and close ally Gianpiero Lambiase will be absent. Lambiase will be stepping away from his responsibilities at Spa due to personal reasons, and will be replaced this weekend by engineer Simon Rennie. Rennie previously stood in for Lambiase at the Austrian Grand Prix earlier this year, with the race engineer back in the garage for the subsequent race at Silverstone. Lambiase’s replacement, Rennie, has built an impressive CV with Red Bull over the years, serving as race engineer to Mark Webber and Daniel Ricciardo at the team. Despite their often fraught team radio messages over the years, Verstappen and Lambiase have a close bond with the pair having worked together since his arrival at the team in 2016.
