Max Verstappen’s racing engineer Gianpiero Lambiase will join McLaren as chief racing officer in 2028.
Following the news that GP will be going to McLaren, Red Bull subsequently confirming the eventual exit from the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
Lambiase joined Red Bull from Force India in 2015 and has been Max Verstappen’s race engineer ever since Max joined the team from Toro Rosso in May 2016. Together, they won four drivers’ world championship from 2021 to 2024, while Lambiase took on additional responsibilities as head of race engineering, then head of racing.
At McLaren, Lambiase will report to team principal Andrea Stella. “The role of the chief racing officer already exists within the team’s structure with overall leadership of the race team. These duties are currently managed by Andrea Stella in addition to his role as team principal,” the outfit explained in a press release.
“The team’s ability to attract and secure top talent, like Lambiase, and previously Rob Marshall and Will Courtenay,” it continued, referring to two longtime Red Bull engineers previously poached by McLaren, “alongside the retention and promotion of highly-talented people already within the team, is a testament to the strategic vision and culture that are integrally embodied in the McLaren Mastercard F1 Team under the leadership of Zak Brown and Andrea Stella, who are also both on long-term contracts.”
Interestingly, while Red Bull said Lambiase was going to leave the team “in 2028, when his current contract expires”, McLaren states it looks forward to “welcoming Gianpiero Lambiase when his existing contract ends, no later than 2028”.
This is interesting news that GP is leaving Red Bull. Nearly all the top figures that has shaped the championship success at the outfit is no longer there especially Christian Horner and Adrian Newey, it will be fascinating if Max will quit following his race engineer switching sides to join rival McLaren.