As Gianpiero Lambiase steps back, who will be his replacement in Austria?

12:22, 25 Jul

byNicole Mulder

Max Verstappen will have to make do this weekend without the man who usually guides him through each racing weekend via the pit radio: Gianpiero Lambiase. His regular race engineer is absent due to personal reasons in Austria. Taking his place is Simon Rennie. Who is Lambiase's temporary replacement?

This is Gianpiero Lambiase's replacement

At Red Bull, Lambiase and Verstappen have formed a solid team for years. Sometimes there is quite a bit of bickering between the two – team boss Christian Horner even referred to the duo as an ‘old married couple’ - but the results speak volumes and their connection is very strong. During the Austrian Grand Prix, however, Verstappen will have to do without his loyal companion.

Simon Rennie will temporarily take over. The 45-year-old Brit has an impressive resume within Formula 1. He began his career at Renault, where he worked with among others Fernando Alonso, and later made his mark at Lotus thanks to the famous board radio with Kimi Raikkonen: “Leave me alone, I know what to do.” That clip is etched in the collective memory of many F1 fans.

After his move to Red Bull, Rennie worked successively with Mark Webber, Daniel Ricciardo, and briefly with Alex Albon. He is currently employed as Group Leader of Simulation Engineering at the Austrian team. Rennie knows the team inside and out and Verstappen is familiar with him from their collaboration in the factory, but having a different race engineer will certainly be an adjustment for the four-time world champion.

Rennie steps in again for Lambiase in Spa

At the Belgian Grand Prix, Lambiase has had to step aside due to personal reasons. Thus Rennie gets another chance to be the voice in Verstappen's ear throughout the race weekend.

The Dutchman externalised no complaints regarding the British engineer, in fact, quite the opposite, with Verstappen having stated his confidence in Rennie's guidance throughout the race weekend in Spielberg.