Key Lando Norris F1 ally rejects 'married' Max Verstappen comparison

Lando Norris' race engineer Will Joseph has rebuffed a comparison between Max Verstappen and his Red Bull pit wall counterpart Gianpiero Lambiase.

The role of an F1 race engineer is crucial throughout a grand prix weekend as they serve as the link between the driver and the team during the all-important on-track sessions.

Verstappen and Lambiase have fashioned a highly successful partnership across the last handful of years, winning four consecutive F1 titles together.

However, they have been known to quarrel on the radio at times, with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner describing the pair as an “old married couple”.

Speaking exclusively to RacingNews365, Joseph denied a similar relationship exists with Norris as he feels the pair understand they don't need to question each other in a public setting.

“I wouldn’t describe us as a married couple, I don't think. We’re not quite that far,” Joseph said. “It's not that we're not that far in a relationship, it’s more that our relationship is subtly different.

“On the radio, we don't necessarily bicker, we try and keep that private. I often say something that he will not be happy about but we don't need to publicly have that conversation.

“We can come back here and say ‘we meant this by this, why didn't you like it?’

“A good example where he said something on the radio, and I said ‘that sounded pretty bad’.

“He said that when he said it didn't sound bad, but downstream, coming across the radio in heat at the moment, it sounds a lot worse than it normally is.”

Joseph has been Norris' F1 race engineer since the Briton made his debut in 2019.

The duo have built their relationship in the seasons that have followed, with Norris fashioning himself into a world championship challenger.

Joseph highlighted the discussions with the driver extend far beyond what is heard over team radio, and any potential hostility is quickly evaporated through talks after a driver returns to the garage.

“We don't worry about how things come across in the radio, because we know the trust is there and we can have the conversations afterwards to say, ‘What did you mean? Why didn't you agree with it? How come you didn't follow our advice? Why did you do the opposite?’

“Part of that is the loop between myself and the other engineers, so we can go back, look at the data and say, ‘Okay, it wasn't that bit, it was this bit’.

“I don't think we’re a married couple. I would hope that we have an adult-to-adult relationship whereby we can disagree, but it doesn't matter, because we just move on, build and do a better job because of it.”

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Will Joseph and Lando Norris 'not best friends'

Maintaining a strong relationship and a healthy line of communication with their race engineer is a crucial element to a driver's on-track success.

However, while the two also share a bond away from the race track, Joseph insisted there is no need for them to maintain in constant link when they are not at a grand prix event.

“We’re not best friends off it, but I would certainly say we're friends,” Joseph detailed. 

“We have a very strong relationship. Am I texting him midweek about certain stuff? No.

“The job of the racing engineer is to have that adult relationship with a colleague, because at the end of the day, he is a friend, but he's also a colleague.

“To have that strong relationship, such that if there are things that need to be done, I can be frank about it, and vice versa.

“So we're certainly friends, but we're not best friends. We don't need to be and people shouldn't expect us to be.”