Red Bull sporting director Laurent Mekies has said Gianpiero (GP) Lambiase, currently Max Verstappen’s race engineer, will become McLaren’s team principal. Red Bull announced in March that Lambiase would leave his role as head of race engineering and Verstappen’s engineer to join McLaren as chief racing officer, with McLaren stating he would assume that position no later than 2028. McLaren also said the chief racing officer role already exists within its structure and that its duties are presently shared by Andrea Stella alongside his responsibilities as team principal.
Speaking about Lambiase’s departure at the Miami Grand Prix, Mekies told Sky Sports F1 that his employee ‘‘is going to be a team principal’’ at McLaren. On the wider issue of key figures moving on from Red Bull, he said the team does not want to be defensive: it has lost a number of important people over the last four to five years and takes that seriously. Mekies added that Red Bull works to create the best environment to attract, develop and retain staff and is confident it will succeed, while acknowledging departures will not stop entirely. He described Lambiase’s move as an extraordinary opportunity and said all he could do was wish him well.
Red Bull later confirmed to Sky Sports F1 that Mekies believes Lambiase will become McLaren team principal.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown, when shown Mekies’ comments, said Mekies ‘‘knows something I don’t’’ and stressed his confidence in Andrea Stella, calling him the best team principal on the pit wall. Brown praised Stella’s work since his December 2022 appointment and highlighted McLaren’s recent turnaround — successive constructors’ titles and a drivers’ title for Lando Norris — crediting the strength of the team on the pit wall and in design. Brown described GP as a huge talent and said that when the opportunity arose to strengthen McLaren’s racing operation, the team would take it, whether that meant hiring a driver, engineer or strategist. He added that he was very happy Lambiase was joining McLaren.
Some uncertainty remains over the exact timing of Lambiase’s move, with McLaren indicating a preference to complete the transition before 2028. At the time of the hire McLaren said Lambiase was ‘‘the latest hire designed to strengthen and support the talent pool that exists at McLaren Mastercard, while also reaffirming the team’s long-term commitment to confirming its position as a championship-winning team.’’