Red Bull's Laurent Mekies Clarifies Gianpiero Lambiase's Future Role at McLaren

Red Bull Team Principal Laurent Mekies has described Gianpiero 'GP' Lambiase's upcoming move to McLaren as effectively becoming a "team principal" there, offering a new perspective on the high-profile personnel shift. Lambiase, Max Verstappen's long-time and highly successful race engineer, will join the Woking-based team in 2028 as Chief Racing Officer, a role Mekies suggests carries equivalent weight and responsibility to a team principal position.

Why it matters:

This characterization from a rival team boss underscores the significant strategic value McLaren places on acquiring Lambiase's expertise. It highlights the evolving nature of senior leadership roles in F1, where traditional titles are expanding, and signals a major coup for McLaren in securing a key figure from the sport's dominant team. For Red Bull, it represents the continuation of a trend of losing experienced personnel, testing the team's ability to retain talent and maintain its competitive structure.

The details:

• Laurent Mekies explicitly stated that Lambiase is "going to be a team principal there," interpreting the Chief Racing Officer role as one of ultimate track-side authority and leadership.
• The move continues a notable pattern of key personnel departing Red Bull, a trend Mekies acknowledges the team takes "very seriously" while expressing confidence in their environment to develop and retain talent.
• McLaren CEO Zak Brown had previously indicated that the team principal role has accumulated more duties, and Lambiase is expected to shoulder a significant portion of that workload upon his arrival.
• Mekies emphasized that Lambiase has "two long years" remaining with Red Bull, and the focus is on making that final period together "very successful."

What's next:

Lambiase's departure for 2028 creates a looming, high-stakes challenge for Red Bull: finding a new race engineer for Max Verstappen. This process will be one of the most watched personnel decisions in the sport, given the critical and highly successful partnership it will replace. For McLaren, the acquisition is a long-term investment aimed at bolstering their technical leadership and operational strength as they continue their push to consistently challenge at the front of the grid.