Max Verstappen will have to do without his regular race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase again this weekend in Belgium. The British Italian is absent for personal reasons, Red Bull confirmed to NU.nl on Friday. He previously had to miss the Austrian Grand Prix.
Lambiase will also be replaced by Simon Rennie at Spa-Francorchamps. The experienced Brit was previously race engineer for Daniel Ricciardo, among others.
A month ago, Lambiase was already absent in Austria. A week later he was present again at the Silverstone circuit for the British Grand Prix.
This is the second time Lambiase has been absent from a Verstappen race weekend since he started working with the Dutchman in May 2016. Under Lambiase’s leadership, the Limburger became world champion for the last four years.
The drivers start the only free practice session in Belgium on Friday at 12.30 pm. The sprint qualification is at 4.30 pm. The sprint race and qualifying for the main race will follow on Saturday. The main race is scheduled for Sunday.