Champ's masterclass sends.a title message to McLaren

Max Verstappen’s trusted race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, known across the paddock as GP” and the man on the end of multiple rants and rebukes from the four-time Formula One world champion for nearly a decade, is not one for excessive superlatives.

- KIERAN JACKSON

Such is his job, now head of racing at Red Bull, he has to keep a cool head amid an often chaotic grand prix weekend, which is precisely why his reaction to Verstappen’s pole-setting lap in qualifying for the Japanese GP on Saturday was so noteworthy.

GP’s statement was simple: “That is insane,” he said to his driver over team radio. It set up Verstappen’s first win of the season, as he looks to become only the second man – after Michael Schumacher – to win five consecutive F1 world championships.

It was not in the script, either. McLaren, whether it be Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri, had led throughout the weekend practice sessions. The Australian was on provisional pole after the first flying laps in Q3, while the Briton looked set for the top of the timesheet after he put a brilliant lap together in his second run.

But Verstappen’s lap, beating Norris’s time by 0.012 seconds with a 1:26:983 – a new lap record around Suzuka – was not just brilliant. It was a scintillating 87 seconds of on-the-limit driving.