Red Bull need to make a “big-name signing” from elsewhere on the Formula 1 grid to stem rivals hiring their senior figures, says Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok.
The surprise announcement that Gianpiero ‘GP’ Lambiase, Max Verstappen’s engineer and Red Bull’s head of racing, will join McLaren from 2028 is the latest high-profile departure since the end of 2023. Lambiase follows colleagues Rob Marshall (chief designer) and Will Courtenay (head of strategy) to McLaren, while Adrian Newey (chief technical officer) and Jonathan Wheatley (sporting director) have also left the team. Last year also saw Christian Horner step down as team principal and Helmut Marko leave his advisor role.
Speaking on The F1 Show podcast, Chandhok said new team boss Laurent Mekies and Red Bull’s Austrian ownership face a significant task to halt the “brain drain” and make the team attractive again after a difficult start to F1’s new rules era in 2026.
“At the end of the day, you look at Red Bull last year, they won six out of the last nine Grands Prix… Clearly, people need more than just success on track,” Chandhok said. “I think for whatever reason, this brain drain has gone on and there’s a cultural shift that has happened throughout the organisation.”
Chandhok warned good people attract other good people and feared Lambiase could encourage more departures: “How long before ‘GP’ starts calling the other 20 people who are sitting in their engineering office and saying, ‘hey, you know what, guys? This place down at Woking, this is a really nice place to work. How do you fancy coming down here?’ And all of a sudden, how long before that core group starts to break up?”
He pointed to historical examples — Adrian Newey and Ross Brawn drawing talent with them — and urged Red Bull to recruit a major name “not just for the skill set that person can bring, but the people that they will attract.”
Sky Sports F1 commentator David Croft added that Red Bull have lost not only headline staff but experienced personnel beneath them: “It’s not people deserting a sinking ship, but it’s people thinking that their success in their careers can lie elsewhere outside of Milton Keynes.”
On whether Lambiase’s exit makes Verstappen’s departure more likely, Chandhok said it’s “definitely the end of an era” but not necessarily the sole reason Max would leave. Driver-engineer relationships are important, he added, but not the “be-all and end-all.” Chandhok said he suspected Verstappen might take a sabbatical from F1 — possibly in 2027 or 2028 — which could lead either to a return driven by missing the sport or to stepping away to pursue other interests.
Red Bull introduced their own engine this season but have struggled with the R22 car’s handling and overall performance. They sit sixth in the Constructors’ Championship with 16 points and will resume the season at the Miami Grand Prix on May 1-3, the second Sprint weekend of the year.