"GP is negotiating with Mercedes about the next contract": Fans react as Max Verstappen's race engineer misses the F1 Austrian GP

Max Verstappen's long-time race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, is not going to be in his corner at the Austrian Grand Prix. In line with this, fans from all over the globe have come up with fascinating yet hilarious takes.

In recent times, reportedly, Verstappen's entourage has been in talks with Mercedes regarding a potential 2026 seat.

With Gianpiero Lambiase missing the race weekend, for personal reasons, at the Red Bull Ring, a particular fan via X wrote:

"GP is negotiating with Mercedes about the next contract..."

Another fan had the following to add:

"Rage monster Max incoming."

Here are some of the other reactions:

"Max is about to ignite WW3 on the radio this weekend if the RB isn't in the top 3," a fan wrote. "Oh we are so cooked," another added. "Even GP can't cope now with Verstappen's rants," a fan hilariously said.

Gianpiero Lambiase has been Max Verstappen's race engineer since 2016, when the latter joined Red Bull. Over the years, the duo has gone through some major highs and lows, including tremendous success in F1 during the ongoing ground-effect (from 2022 onwards) era.

Verstappen has won four championships since 2021 and is trying to amass a fifth one in the 2025 season. The Dutchman is in third place in the Drivers' standings with 155 points.

Simon Rennie will take over as Max Verstappen's race engineer during the Austrian Grand Prix race weekend.

Max Verstappen's take on Sebastian Vettel's potential return to Red Bull

In recent times, the former F1 driver Sebastian Vettel has been reportedly linked to Red Bull in a non-racing role, and Max Verstappen was also asked for his views on the linkup.

Vettel won four consecutive F1 championships for Red Bull between 2010 and 2013. He has tremendous respect not only within the Austrian team but also in F1 in general. In line with him potentially joining Red Bull in the future, Verstappen said at the Red Bull Ring, via F1:

"I mean, it's more than normal that someone who has achieved so much with Red Bull, has been brought up by Red Bull, yeah, in a sense, there is always a spot available."

Sebastian Vettel retired at the end of the 2022 F1 season with the Lawrence Stroll-led Aston Martin team. In case he rejoins Red Bull in the future, it is believed that he would take up an advisory position within the outfit's F1 setup.

Vettel's wealth of experience will come in handy for the Austrian outfit to continue being one of the heavy hitters in the sport.

Edited by Hitesh Nigam