Brown drops major hint on when Lambiase could join McLaren

McLaren CEO Zak Brown is “optimistic” that Gianpiero Lambiase could join McLaren at some point next year, potentially bringing forward his expected arrival from 2028.

McLaren announced earlier this year that Max Verstappen’s long-time engineer will join McLaren as the team’s chief racing officer, reporting to team principal Andrea Stella.

Gianpiero Lambiase could join McLaren in 2027

“The team looks forward to welcoming Gianpiero Lambiase when his existing contract ends, no later than 2028,” concluded the statement.

Red Bull also mentioned 2028, saying: “Oracle Red Bull Racing confirms that Gianpiero Lambiase will leave the team in 2028, when his current contract expires.”

GP’s pending move raised questions about gardening leave, and exactly when he would step back from Red Bull to protect the team’s future car developments.

However, PlanetF1.com understood that Lambiase would remain an integral part of Verstappen‘s team until ‘late in 2027’.

Brown, though, believes ‘GP’ could already join McLaren in 2027.

“I’m optimistic we’ll see him in papaya at some point next year,” “the McLaren CEO told Sky Sports F1.

“Very excited with everything that we’ve got going on at the factory.

“The men and women have been doing a great job. We’ve made a lot of gains this year from what was a very tough start to the year, but I feel like we’re on top of things now.

“Still a lot of work to do.

“Drivers are driving great, and you know, exciting, exciting times.”

“We’ve got the World Endurance [Championship] going on, our IndyCar team.

“So it’s good to have a papaya shirt to show up to work at the MTC every day.”

More on Red Bull

Red Bull verdict on upgrade progress after Max Verstappen’s victory return

‘LOL, look at this’ – Untelevised Max Verstappen team radio emerges after Bahrain GP chaos

Red Bull already has Lambiase’s replacements as both Verstappen’s race engineer and the team’s head of racing lined up.

Verstappen confirmed to Viaplay that Tom Hart, his performance engineer since January 2020, will take the role of race engineer, while Red Bull has signed former Aston Martin engineer Tom McCullough as its new head of racing.

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read Next: Liam Lawson predicted to lose Racing Bulls seat to Nikola Tsolov