GianPiero Lambiase McLaren role revealed as Red Bull exit confirmed

McLaren has confirmed GianPiero Lambiase’s arrival at the team and clarified the role in which he will slot.

Lambiase is set to leave Red Bull, where he serves as the team’s head of racing, in order to take up a senior leadership role with McLaren.

GianPiero Lambiase confirmed as McLaren chief racing officer

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McLaren has announced that Lambiase will join the team as Chief Racing Officer and will report to team boss Andrea Stella.

The 45-year-old British-Italian currently works as Max Verstappen’s long-term race engineer, a position he has occupied since 2016, and was promoted through two separate step-ups to become Red Bull‘s head of racing in late 2024.

He is under contract with the Milton Keynes-based squad until 2028, meaning he will be joining “no later” than that season.

“McLaren Racing is pleased to announce that GianPiero Lambiase will join the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team as Chief Racing Officer, reporting into Team Principal, Andrea Stella,”  a team spokesperson clarified to media, including PlanetF1.com.

“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.

“Lambiase is the latest hire designed to strengthen and support the talent pool that exists at McLaren Mastercard, while also reaffirming the team’s long-term commitment to confirming its position as a Championship-winning team.”

With Lambiase being reunited with former Red Bull colleagues Rob Marshall and Will Courtenay, McLaren said, “the team’s ability to attract and secure top talent, 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.”

This would appear to be a pointed statement, shutting down the speculation that Lambiase is on his way to Red Bull in order to succeed Stella in the team principal role.

However, this doesn’t shut down the scenario that Lambiase is being positioned to potentially succeed Stella if and when the Italian does move on from McLaren, for whatever reason, and sources have suggested that Lambiase may have been sold this scenario as part of the switch.

“The team looks forward to welcoming GianPiero Lambiase when his existing contract ends, no later than 2028,” McLaren’s statement concluded.

The announcement came shortly after Red Bull confirmed Lambiase will depart the squad.

“Oracle Red Bull Racing confirms that GianPiero Lambiase will leave the team in 2028, when his current contract expires,” a team spokesperson said.

“‘GP’ is a valued member of the team, which he joined in 2015.

“Until his planned departure, ‘GP’ continues in his roles as Head of Racing and as Race Engineer to Max Verstappen.

“The team and he are fully committed to adding more success to our strong track record together.”

Lambiase’s future departure has brought into sharp focus the future of Verstappen in Formula 1, with both having previously indicated a desire to only work in F1 as a partnership. The Dutch driver has publicly questioned his own future in F1 following the recent regulatory changes, but has indicated complete happiness with his current team environment and the work being done at the Milton Keynes-based squad.

Verstappen has notably not ruled out the possibility of walking away from Formula 1 and, with his race engineer of over 10 years now choosing to leave, could lend further weight to the theory that he has made plans for his future.

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