Red Bull and McLaren disagree on Gianpiero Lambiase’s future role
Max Verstappen’s race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase will join McLaren from Red Bull by 2028, sparking a disagreement between the two Formula 1 teams regarding his specific job title.
The Milton Keynes squad announced last month that the highly-rated engineer was leaving his post to join their championship rivals.
McLaren stated the new arrival would take up the position of chief racing officer no later than the 2028 season.
Those duties are currently managed by Andrea Stella alongside his existing responsibilities as team principal.
Conflicting claims over leadership
The situation became complicated during the recent Miami Grand Prix weekend.
Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies publicly stated that his departing employee is actually destined for the top job at the Woking-based outfit.
“GP had an extraordinary opportunity. You know, he is going to be a team principal there.”
Mekies noted that losing key personnel was inevitable but insisted his team remains focused on creating an environment to attract and retain top talent.
“It’s not something that I can do anything else than wishing him well.”
Red Bull later confirmed that the Frenchman genuinely believes the incoming engineer will eventually replace Stella at the helm of McLaren.
Stella’s long-term commitment
Stella originally joined McLaren from Ferrari in 2015 and was promoted to team principal in 2023.
The Italian has overseen a significant upward trajectory in performance over the past three years.
The 55-year-old recently signed a long-term contract and dismissed speculation linking him with a return to Maranello.
“Honestly, some of the recent rumours, including those regarding astronomical salaries and mythical pre-contracts, have made me smile.”
The current leadership structure remains formally unchanged despite the high-profile acquisition of Verstappen’s trusted trackside voice.