McLaren officially hires Red Bull’s Gianpiero Lambiase, reveals time frame for arrival

Gianpiero Lambiase will join McLaren as its chief racing officer, the British Formula 1 team announced on Thursday.

Motorsport revealed Lambiase’s career move earlier today, with Red Bull subsequently confirming the Britain’s eventual exit from the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

Lambiase joined Red Bull from Force India in 2015 and has been Max Verstappen’s race engineer ever since the Dutchman joined the team from Toro Rosso in May 2016. Together, they won four drivers’ world titles from 2021 to 2024, while Lambiase took on additional responsibilities as head of race engineering, then head of racing.

At McLaren, Lambiase will report to team principal Andrea Stella. “The role of the chief racing officer already exists within the team’s structure with overall leadership of the race team. These duties are currently managed by Andrea Stella in addition to his role as team principal,” the squad explained in a press release.

“The team’s ability to attract and secure top talent, like Lambiase, and previously Rob Marshall and Will Courtenay,” it continued, referring to two longtime Red Bull engineers previously poached by McLaren, “alongside the retention and promotion of highly-talented people already within the team, is a testament to the strategic vision and culture that are integrally embodied in the McLaren Mastercard F1 Team under the leadership of Zak Brown and Andrea Stella, who are also both on long-term contracts.”

Interestingly, while Red Bull said Lambiase was going to leave the team “in 2028, when his current contract expires”, McLaren states it looks forward to “welcoming Gianpiero Lambiase when his existing contract ends, no later than 2028”.

The phrasing ‘no later than 2028’ may imply the team is hopeful to find an agreement in order to shorten Lambiase’s gardening leave.