Steiner: McLaren's Lambiase hire shows long-term vision

Former Haas F1 boss Guenther Steiner says McLaren's move to secure Red Bull's star race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase is a clear sign the Woking team is building for sustained success. He predicts Red Bull will likely release Lambiase early rather than keep an engineer whose "heart" may no longer be fully in the fight, and praised McLaren's strategy of recruiting proven, hungry talent from the current top team.

Why it matters:

McLaren's aggressive recruitment of key personnel from the reigning champion team signals a strategic shift from chasing immediate gains to constructing a championship-caliber foundation. Landing figures like Lambiase and former Red Bull strategy head Will Courtenay provides not just expertise, but also the winning culture and processes needed to consistently challenge at the front, marking a critical phase in their long-term resurgence.

The details:

• Guenther Steiner, appearing on the Drive to Wynn podcast, analyzed the high-profile signing, noting Lambiase will join McLaren as Chief Racing Officer by 2028 at the latest.
• He suggested Red Bull faces a dilemma: keep an engineer who knows he's leaving, potentially at 99% commitment, or place him on gardening leave. "Sometimes that's not good enough in Formula 1," Steiner stated, implying an early exit is probable.
• Steiner highlighted the broader pattern, pointing to the earlier acquisition of Will Courtenay as Sporting Director. He called the approach "very smart," building a "very strong team of individuals" who are both experienced and young enough to maintain high motivation.
• The Talent Magnet Effect: Success breeds success. Steiner explained that McLaren's strong performance over the last two seasons makes it the desirable destination for top talent. "They didn't go to a small team, they went to the team that was best the last two years," he said, emphasizing that winning is the ultimate recruitment tool.

What's next:

McLaren's project under Andrea Stella and Zak Brown is taking definitive shape with these strategic hires. The focus now shifts to integration—absorbing the championship-winning knowledge and methodologies these individuals bring from Red Bull into McLaren's own structure. If successful, this talent infusion could accelerate their timeline to becoming a regular title contender, turning their current upward trajectory into a permanent position at the sharp end of the grid.