Max Verstappen’s engineer spotted looking ‘incredibly despondent’ in the paddock despite Mexican GP podium

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Red Bull driver Max Verstappen managed to earn his sixth successive podium finish at the 2025 Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix.

As a result, Max Verstappen closed the gap in the drivers’ championship to 36 points, although he’s now chasing a new championship leader in Lando Norris.

Norris won the race by more than half a minute in what could be a career-defining drive for the McLaren star.

However, he and teammate Oscar Piastri will be well aware of the threat that Verstappen poses, especially considering that earlier in the year, he was more than 100 points off the top of the standings.

Team principal Laurent Mekies never believed Verstappen could beat Norris, such was the performance gap between the Red Bull car and the McLaren.

It makes his achievement of finishing ahead of Piastri even more impressive.

However, one man who wasn’t happy with the result was Max Verstappen’s race engineer and Red Bull’s Head of Racing, Gianpiero Lambiase.

Journalist Matt Majendie spotted Lambiase in the paddock after the race and explained why he was so upset with Verstappen’s third-place finish.

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Gianpiero Lambiase was ‘incredibly despondent’ after Max Verstappen’s Mexican Grand Prix podium

Majendie was reflecting on the race for The Inside Track Podcast, and when talking about the mood in the Red Bull camp on Sunday, he said: “Speaking to most of the Red Bull engineers, there was a sense of sort of victory in them. Everyone was a bit like, could we have got second?

“But to get third from where they were was great. The only person, and actually Verstappen was pretty cool about it in the scheme of things. Actually, he came away pretty positive because it looked like a very difficult weekend.

“The fear was they were going to drop further back from fifth, where they started. So that was the danger.

“The only person was Gianpiero Lambiase, who wasn’t happy. And I’ve got to say this man may be the worst poker player in the world because his body language was extraordinary, seeing him walk from the back of the garage to hospitality.

“And I chatted to him for a bit afterwards. And I was like, surely you’re a bit upbeat. And he goes, ‘No’. His argument was that while they cut the gap in the championship, there’s then a sizable gap to two drivers now.

“So, he was incredibly despondent. I was told this might possibly be some Italian roots, and either extreme of the emotion. I think he might be a bit more positive after the flight and coming back to base.

“P2 would have been absolutely extraordinary had he done that.”

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Gianpiero Lambiase’s Mexico City Grand Prix radio mishap with Max Verstappen

Lambiase and Verstappen have a fantastic relationship and always provide fans with plenty of entertainment with their team radio conversations.

One of the incidents that stands out between the pair was at last year’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix, when many of the drivers got the rules wrong on an abandoned start.

Verstappen and Lambiase immediately recognised what was going on, and while many of those around the Dutchman made the mistake of leaving the grid, he stayed put.

However, at the Mexico City Grand Prix, Lambiase made an error on the team radio.

He was heard saying: “What are we doing? Staying out, Max.

“Yep, so, are we on a one-stop or a two-stop at the moment? Right, ok…”

Neither of these messages was designed to be broadcast, and Verstappen eventually chimed in and said: “I can hear everything!”

Lambiase recognises how fine the margins are going to be at the end of the season when it comes to winning the championship.

However, nobody sets higher standards for Verstappen than himself, and he’ll recognise that after the late virtual safety car, third place was the best he could do.