Gianpiero Lambiase — Max Verstappen’s long‑time race engineer, confidant, and one of Red Bull Racing’s most influential figures — will leave the team at the end of the 2027 Formula 1 season, joining McLaren in 2028 in a senior race‑engineering role.
The move marks another high‑profile acquisition for McLaren and deepens the wave of technical and operational departures Red Bull has faced in recent years.
Red Bull confirmed the news in a brief statement, emphasising both Lambiase’s importance and the shared intention to finish their partnership strongly: “GP is a valued member of the Team, which he joined in 2015.
“Until his planned departure, he continues in his roles as Head of Racing and as Race Engineer to Max Verstappen. The Team and he are fully committed to add more success to our strong track record together.”
A partnership that Ddfined an era
Lambiase’s exit brings an end to one of the defining engineer–driver relationships of modern Formula 1. Since being paired with Verstappen in 2016, the duo have built a dynamic that became part of Red Bull’s competitive identity — terse, brutally honest, often dryly humorous, and always rooted in deep mutual trust.
Verstappen has long credited Lambiase as the one person capable of challenging him without hesitation, both emotionally and technically. Their radio exchanges became iconic, and their collaboration underpinned Verstappen’s run of world championships and Red Bull’s dominance in the mid‑2020s.
McLaren’s offer: A career‑changing opportunity
Speaking at a Viaplay event in Amsterdam, Verstappen revealed that Lambiase consulted him before accepting McLaren’s offer — an offer widely reported to include a significant salary increase and long‑term security.
Verstappen’s response was unequivocal: “He told me what kind of offer he’d received. I said: ‘You’d be daft not to take it.’
“We’ve already achieved everything together and then he gets such a fantastic offer, especially with his family in mind and the security it would bring him. He asked me for my approval, so to speak, and I told him he absolutely had to go for it.”
His father, Jos Verstappen, echoed the sentiment, confirming that both he and Max had known about the planned departure for some time:
“We knew for a while, and we also knew when it was going to happen. We have another year and a half to two years to work with him. It’s a huge opportunity for him, so we understand. We also told him to do it and grab it with both hands.”
Jos also suggested that, despite recent hints of uncertainty, he expects Max to continue racing: “Things have changed… but I think he’ll just carry on.”
It also comes in the wake of other high‑profile exits from Red Bull’s wider structure, including Adrian Newey, Will Courtenay (former Head of Strategy), Rob Marshall (former Chief Designer), and Jonathan Wheatley.
Within Red Bull, Lambiase’s importance extended far beyond his role as Verstappen’s race engineer. Since 2025, he has served as Head of Racing, overseeing race operations, heritage activities, car‑build coordination, and regulatory compliance — effectively the third‑ranking figure in the team’s technical and sporting hierarchy.
His departure leaves a significant leadership gap and raises questions about succession planning at a time when Red Bull is already navigating structural change.
Verstappen has previously hinted that his long‑term future is closely tied to Lambiase’s presence, once remarking that he “only works with GP.” While both Verstappens now publicly support Lambiase’s decision, the emotional and operational impact on the reigning champion cannot be dismissed.
