If you asked a Formula 1 fan what the highlight of Friday’s qualifying at the Belgian GP was, it most likely wouldn’t be Max Verstappen taking pole position by nearly a second. Instead, it would be how his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase (GP) put Max in his place. GP, who’s often referred to as Verstappen’s partner in crime because of all their exploits at Red Bull, seemingly assumed the role of a parent after Q2 as he gave Max a dressing down after his rather colorful outburst. Apparently, Lewis Hamilton had prophesized about this way back about his arch-rival.

Qualifying in Spa, as always, was unpredictable. And because the track is so long, drivers don’t get time to do as many flying laps as they are usually used to. So in the dying stages of Q2—which was also the transition stage from intermediate tires to slicks—drivers had to decide whether to go for two continuous flying laps or just one. While Verstappen wanted to do the former, GP advised against it, and Max made it through to Q3 by the skin of his teeth in P10. Unsurprisingly, he wasn’t happy. And, in the words of Alex Kalinauckas on the Autosport Podcast, There was swearing all over the place.”

After Verstappen finished Q3 at the top of the timing charts, he apologized to GP for his outburst, and GP hilariously said, “Slowly getting used to it, Max.” While all was back to being well and good in Verstappen’s camp, Kalinauckas had a few things to say about the incident. He said, “It’s really interesting with Verstappen because I think Lewis Hamilton jokingly said it in one of the press conferences recently, ‘You know Max is under pressure when he’s swearing.’ Because he hasn’t. You’ve not really heard that this whole year with all the domination.” 

He continued, “Odd from Max because he’s going to be world champion no matter what. So what pressure? I think it’s this desire to just destroy the field in every session. I think that’s what’s driving him.” And he did destroy the field in qualifying.

Considering he has a five-place grid penalty for the race due to a gearbox change, it could’ve been the desperation to start as high as possible, or it could’ve just been the adrenaline. Either way, GP and Max are back to being bros. And while people might call GP Verstappen’s partner in crime, Christian Horner has different terminology for the duo.

Read More: Helmut Marko Defends Max Verstappen’s Tantrums Under the Guise of Competitiveness

What is Max Verstappen and Gianpiero Lambiase’s relationship really like?

The Belgian GP weekend wasn’t the first time we’ve heard GP steal the limelight from Verstappen this season. At the Spanish GP earlier this year, Verstappen was on track to win the race after starting from pole and leading every lap. But he wanted a Grand Slam and asked GP what his fastest lap was. Considering Verstappen had already exceeded track limits four times, he was one strike away from a 5-second penalty. To avoid that situation, GP advised Max not to go for the fastest lap, but he still did. But after that lap, GP not-so-subtly told Max to stay within the limits (both the tracks and his).

While discussing their relationship after the race, Horner said, “The relationship between Verstappen and Lambiase is similar to that of an old married couple arguing about what to watch on television. The dynamic between the two is so intense that in between, you have to ask yourself who is supposed to be the driver and who is supposed to be the engineer here.”

Did you enjoy hearing GP put Max Verstappen in his place?

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