Dutch world champion Max Verstappen says the relationship between himself and engineer Gianpiero Lambiase is like that of a husband and wife complete with the "screaming and shouting".
British engineer Lambiase has been with Red Bull since leaving Force India in 2014 with Verstappen joining the team from Torro Rosso two years later. The British engineer has been the voice behind both of Verstappen's world championship wins and 35 grand prix wins.
When asked by RacingNews365.com if their relationship was like that of two brothers, Verstappen replied: "Probably more like a marriage. Sometimes (we're) screaming and shouting a little bit at each other, (but) it's good. We just have to determine who is the husband and who is the wife!"
This year the British engineer took over as head of race engineering at Red Bull but kept his role as Verstappen's race engineer. Despite their bickering the Dutch driver says that the relationship between himself and Lambiase is a healthy one and he hopes the pair can keep working together.
"It's been really good," said Verstappen. "It's very important also, once it's working, to stay together and when you have to work all the time with a different race engineer, I don't think it's good for you.
"I don't want to change. Hopefully he doesn't want to change as well."
Which other sporting relationships would you liken to that of a husband and wife? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section
Red Bull chief Helmut Marko said he was 'open' to the prospect of Sebastian Vettel re-joining his old team after retiring from his career at Abu Dhabi last weekend. Marko believes there is a chance he could return to his old team in the future in a management role after winning all his four world titles with the constructor.
Verstappen says that one of the reasons Lambiase left Force India to join Red Bulls was to work with the former world champion, who then left to join Ferrari.
"He (Lambiase) was promised that he would work with Seb (Vettel), so he signed," said Verstappen. "But two weeks later Seb left for Ferrari. Then, in 2015, he had to work with Daniil (Kvyat).
"We still laugh about it sometimes, he got promised to work with Seb, and now, through the years, he ended up with me!"
