Max Verstappen gives verdict on stand-in race engineer Simon Rennie after Belgian GP sprint win

Max Verstappen has praised his stand-in race engineer Simon Rennie after a successful sprint race on the weekend of the Belgian Grand Prix ended in a win for the Dutchman.

Gianpiero Lambiase, the race engineer typically heard on the end of the radio of the four-time world champion, has been absent this weekend, with the team citing personal reasons. But similarly to the Austrian Grand Prix earlier this year, Rennie has stepped in, fulfilling Lambiase’s responsibilities for the driver.

After a successful sprint race at Spa-Francorchamps, Verstappen gave his verdict on the Briton.

“With Simon, I mean, he has a lot of racing experience already and, of course, he’s been part of the team already for a very long time,” Verstappen explained to the media.

“Of course, the last few years [he’s] not anymore in a race engineer role, but he steps in and he’s immediately on it. So also again, very enjoyable to work with Simon.”

Rennie, who previously served as the race engineer for Daniel Ricciardo, Mark Webber and Kimi Raikkonen, will be working alongside Verstappen for the entirety of the weekend.

Verstappen hopes to carry forward the momentum from his success in the sprint race, but with tyre strategy at play in the Grand Prix as well as potential rain, he realises it could well be an uphill battle from here.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Andy Hone / LAT Images via Getty Images

“Yeah, I’m just happy that I was able to hang on to it. I knew, of course, in the start there were possibilities up to Turn 5. We took it. And then, from there onwards, I knew also they had new mediums.”

With a low drag setup, Verstappen was able to maintain his lead throughout the sprint, but not for lack of trying from McLaren’s Oscar Piastri.

“I knew that it was going to be even more difficult. Just trying to hang in there with the top speed that we had. I knew the middle sector was going to be the weaker area for us and just trying not to make any mistakes there, basically. And it worked very well.

“The only thing that I had was one time, the braking into the last chicane. But it’s also, you know, you’re driving a bit over your own kind of management, so it’s easy to just overheat the tyres a bit too much. But we hung in there and kept the two McLarens behind.

“Of course, very pleased to win here. I mean, it’s my favourite track, home crowd, home feeling. So, yeah, just very nice always to be here.”

Photos from Belgian GP – Sprint