Max Verstappen responds to Adrian Newey promotion as Lambiase rumours swirl

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen says he is sure that Adrian Newey will do well in his new role as Aston Martin F1 team principal.

It comes amid rumours that Verstappen’s long-serving race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, could follow Newey by swapping Red Bull for Aston Martin.

Max Verstappen reacts to Adrian Newey assuming Aston Martin team principal role

Newey, the most decorated individual in F1 history, joined Aston Martin last March after a highly successful stint at Red Bull, where he played an instrumental role in Verstappen’s run of four consecutive titles between 2021 and 2024.

Aston Martin announced last month that Newey, who recently turned 67, has been installed as team principal ahead of the F1 2026 season.

Newey’s promotion will allow his predecessor, Andy Cowell, to manage the three-way relationship between Aston Martin, new engine partner Honda and fuel supplier Aramco in the position of chief strategy officer.

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Speaking at the Qatar Grand Prix, the penultimate race of the 2025 season, Newey insisted that car development will remain his main focus despite his new responsibilities at Aston Martin.

Newey’s promotion has seen him become the latest figure with an engineering background to land a team boss role, following in the footsteps of Andrea Stella (McLaren), James Vowles (Williams), Jonathan Wheatley (Audi F1) and Laurent Mekies, who replaced Christian Horner at Red Bull in July last year.

Responding to Newey’s promotion, Verstappen pointed out that Aston Martin is “going the same way” as other teams by handing the top job to an engineer.

He told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets: “It’s probably something that you see in more teams, that someone more technical is taking on the role of team boss, and I guess Aston is going the same way.

“You have to ask them, of course, why they opted to do it, but that’s my logical explanation behind that.

“I’m happy to see that. I don’t know, of course, how much that will change in the involvement of the car for Adrian, but I’m sure he will do well.”

Asked if he was surprised by Newey’s willingness to become a team principal, and whether the veteran might not be suited to a leadership position, Verstappen added: “Time will tell, right? I don’t know. I’ve never spoken to Adrian about it.

“It was never an option [for him] at Red Bull, of course, as well, so I don’t know what the ambition was or whatever, but I’m happy for him.

“He’s in a different team environment now and, of course, I cannot look into the team as well.

“Why or how the reason why he got promoted, I don’t know.

“But I’m just sitting here and enjoying it, happy for him and I hope that the team will benefit from his knowledge at the end of the day.”

Reports last week indicated that Newey could be joined at Aston Martin by Lambiase, who has served as Verstappen’s race engineer throughout his Red Bull career.

It was claimed last month that Lambiase is in talks to join Aston Martin in a role described as ‘at team principal or CEO level.’

A move to Aston Martin would see Lambiase return to the team – then competing under the Jordan name – with which he began his F1 career in 2005.

Lambiase progressed through the ranks at the Silverstone-based team, acting as race engineer to Vitantonio Liuzzi, Paul di Resta and Sergio Perez during its Force India guise before joining Red Bull in 2015.

He initially served as Daniil Kvyat’s race engineer before Verstappen replaced the Russian driver ahead of the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, where the Dutchman won on debut for Red Bull’s senior team.

Daniel Ricciardo’s former race engineer, Simon Rennie, could be an option to become Verstappen’s new engineer in the event of Lambiase’s departure.

Rennie, who has held a factory-based role over recent years, deputised for the absent Lambiase at last year’s Austrian and Belgian Grands Prix.

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Aston Martin has recruited a number of former Red Bull figures since Newey arrived at the Silverstone team.

PlanetF1.com revealed in September that Aston Martin had signed ex-Red Bull and Racing Bulls strategist Nick Roberts for 2026.

As reported at the time by PlanetF1.com, meanwhile, former Red Bull simulations guru Giles Wood was recruited by Aston Martin in June just weeks after Newey had publicly highlighted the team’s simulation tools as an area of weakness.

A move to Aston Martin saw Wood return to F1 activities after a stint away from the sport, which saw him work for technology giant Apple.

Wood’s arrival was followed in November by that of Marco Fainello, the former Ferrari simulations expert, who arrived as a consultant having played a key role in Michael Schumacher’s success with the Prancing Hose.

Aston Martin also added former Ferrari technical director Enrico Cardile to its ranks in 2025.

Verstappen, who is officially under contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028, also found himself linked with a $300million move to Aston Martin in 2025.

In a statement issued to PlanetF1.com ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix last April, however, Aston Martin reaffirmed its commitment to its current driver lineup of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.

An Aston Martin spokesperson said: “It’s normal for the media to speculate on driver market, but we have an amazing driver line-up that we are committed to and who are under contract for 2026 and beyond.

“Our focus is on delivering for our drivers by giving them a more consistent and competitive car.

“When we do, they are both capable of delivering great results.”

Additional reporting by Mat Coch and Thomas Maher

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