Long standing Verstappen engineer Lambiase to depart Red Bull

Max Verstappen’s right hand man and race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, will leave Red Bull Racing it has been announced. ‘GP’ will join McLaren, with his role yet to be determined from 2028 onwards, but it’s suggested a Team Principal role may be on the cards.

The 45 year old has worked with Red Bull since 2015 where he began as a race engineer to Daniil Kvyat before his most notable performances came with Mad Verstappen - guiding the Dutchman from a hotheaded youngster to a four time World Champion with his calm and quick witted demeanour that seems a perfect match to handle Verstappen’s up/down responses.

He also rose through the ranks at Red Bull, becoming Head of Race Engineering from 2022 - a role he took over from Guillaume ‘Rocky’ Rocquelin, a former engineer to Sebastian Vettel before taking on the title of Head of Racing following Johnathan Wheatley’s departure to Audi from the start of the 2025 season.

Lambiase’s departure further heightens the doubt over Verstappen’s future in F1 as yet another major name at Red Bull departs in what appears to be an increasingly transformative phase for the Milton Keynes based team.

📸Image credits: Formula Motorsport Limited.