Verstappen's race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase set for McLaren move

Gianpiero 'GP' Lambiase, the long-serving race engineer and strategic confidant to Max Verstappen at Red Bull, is poised to join McLaren in a senior role, marking a significant personnel shift within the Formula 1 paddock. The move, which is not expected to happen until at least 2028, will end one of the sport's most successful and famously candid driver-engineer partnerships as Lambiase takes on the position of Chief Racing Officer at the Woking-based team.

Why it matters:

Lambiase has been the voice in Verstappen's ear for all four of his world championships, forming a cornerstone of Red Bull's recent dominance. His departure signals another key figure exiting the reigning constructors' champions and removes a critical pillar of support for Verstappen. For McLaren, securing a figure of Lambiase's experience and proven track record represents a major coup as they continue their aggressive recruitment drive to solidify their position at the front of the grid.

The details:

• Lambiase, a 45-year-old British-Italian engineer, began his F1 career with Jordan in 2005 and stayed with the team through its various iterations as Midland, Spyker, and Force India.
• He joined Red Bull in 2015, initially engineering Daniil Kvyat before taking over the race engineer role for a teenage Max Verstappen in 2016, guiding him to his debut win for the team that same year.
• His reputation was built earlier, however, having engineered Giancarlo Fisichella to Force India's first pole and podium at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix.
• At Red Bull, he ascended to the dual role of Head of Racing and Verstappen's race engineer from 2025, making him a central figure in the team's operational and strategic success.
• Verstappen has frequently described their relationship as an "honest" and "good" partnership that functions like a "marriage," complete with frequent disagreements that both say are essential to extracting maximum performance.

What's next:

The timeline of the move is crucial, with indications it will not occur before 2028—the final year of Verstappen's current Red Bull contract. Lambiase himself stated in 2023 that he would seek a "new challenge" only after his working relationship with Verstappen ended, suggesting he does not intend to engineer another driver at Red Bull.

• At McLaren, he will report directly to Team Principal Andrea Stella and will assume leadership of the race team, a set of duties currently handled by Stella himself.
• The move reunites Lambiase with former Red Bull colleagues Rob Marshall (Chief Designer) and Will Courtenay (Sporting Director) at McLaren.
• While not impacting Stella's position, Lambiase's recruitment underscores McLaren's long-term ambition and raises inevitable questions about the future stability of Red Bull's technical group and Verstappen's own long-term plans within the sport.