Laurent Mekies has downplayed concerns after news that Max Verstappen’s longtime race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, will leave Red Bull to join McLaren no later than 2028. Lambiase’s current contract with Red Bull runs until the end of 2027; he is expected to take up a Chief Racing Officer role supporting Andrea Stella at McLaren.
Lambiase is the latest senior figure to depart Red Bull in recent years. The exodus has included Rob Marshall and Will Courtenay to McLaren, Jonathan Wheatley to Audi, and the high-profile move of designer Adrian Newey to Aston Martin. Despite that turnover, Mekies said the situation is manageable and not cause for alarm.
Mekies stressed that staff movement is part of Formula 1 and that Red Bull’s priority is to build an environment that retains, develops and attracts top talent. He pointed to the strength of the team’s leadership—naming Ben Waterhouse on the power-unit side and Pierre Wache on the chassis side—and said there is strong depth under those groups. Where possible the team prefers internal promotion and has invested in developing people from within.
At the same time, Mekies was clear Red Bull will recruit externally when the team needs particular skills or experience. He highlighted the recent restructuring that blended internal promotions with outside hires, noting Ben Waterhouse’s expanded remit and the imminent arrival of Andrea Landi from Racing Bulls as examples. “If we need to go elsewhere to inject [skills], we will do it happily,” he said.
Mekies also pointed out Red Bull has time to plan a replacement for Lambiase and reiterated the organisation is proud of the talent it has created. He said losses over the past few years have prompted a renewed focus on people and culture so the team can remain competitive on and off the track.
On the track, Red Bull sit fourth in the 2026 Constructors’ standings after four rounds, behind Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren, and Mekies acknowledged the team has not had the ideal start to the season under the new regulations. Nonetheless, he maintained Red Bull remains an attractive destination for engineers and race personnel, able to blend homegrown development with targeted external recruitment when necessary.