24/08/2025 08:20
Red Bull ambassador and former team mechanic Callum Nicholas has
shared a funny story regarding a hot lap experience with Max
Verstappen. Nicholas was part of the Red Bull mechanic and pit crew
for several years and won multiple world championships with the
team. He has since released his own book and has become an
ambassador for the Red Bull company. Nicholas recently shared a
behind-the-scenes story involving Max Verstappen and the Dutchman's
race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase. "It's a couple of years ago,
pre-season, and we're doing our normal filming day," Nicholas said
on Instagram. "So as usual, we're at Silverstone. We're getting
ready to send the car out for its first laps of the season."
Lambiase wanted to get an eye for the circuit in before Verstappen
gave the car its on-track debut, and Nicholas volunteered his own
Audi RS6 road car. As they took to the track, Lambiase and
Verstappen had two polarising introductions for Nicholas, who was
behind the wheel. "When I took on this offer, I didn't really think
that it would be as much pressure as it was," he said. "I was kind
of stuck in the middle. I didn't want to drive too fast, but I
didn't want to drive too slowly either. "Once we were out on the
track, this became even more of a problem, because while I've got
Max going, 'Yeah, yeah, go, go, go, go', I've got GP in the back
going, 'That's enough, Calum! Enough! You don't need to go any
faster.' "But Max did make me laugh at one point. Because as we're
approaching Maggotts and Becketts - bear in mind I'm already doing
a fair lick - he just says to me, 'It's flat through here.'" "[I
said] 'mate, it is not, and I ain't got the balls for that.'
"Anyway, we all made it around the lap safely. Which is good,
because I would not have wanted to explain to health and safety why
a pretty key member of the team was injured before the season
starts!"
