Max Verstappen loses long-time race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase for Spa

Max Verstappen will have a new race engineer for the Belgian Grand Prix as Gianpiero Lambiase is absent due to personal reasons.

No, this is not another seismic change at Red Bull, it’s just – as things stand – for Spa.

Max Verstappen engineer Gianpiero Lambiase sits out the Belgian GP

Lambiase missed last month’s Austrian Grand Prix as the Italian-British engineer stepped aside for personal reasons.

In Lambiase’s place came Daniel Ricciardo’s former race engineer Simon Rennie, who worked at Renault before joining Red Bull in 2013.

Alas, Rennie’s first race as Verstappen’s race engineer ended before it even began when the Dutch racer was taken out by Kimi Antonelli on the opening lap at the Red Bull Ring.

The two, though, will reunite as driver and race engineer at the Belgian Grand Prix as Lambiase is once again taking time out for personal reasons.

It is unknown whether Lambiase will be back for Hungary, the final race before F1’s summer break.

Lambiase’s absence means for the first time since joining Red Bull in early 2016, Verstappen will be without both his trusted race engineer and Christian Horner.

Horner was sacked by Red Bull two weeks ago, the team replacing the Briton with Laurent Mekies.

The shock announcement brought an end to Horner’s 20 year tenure that included six Drivers’ Championship titles and eight Constructors’ crowns.

“Red Bull has released Christian Horner from his operational duties with effect from today (9 July 2025) and has appointed Laurent Mekies as CEO of Red Bull Racing,” read the brief statement.

Whether it’s the decisive factor that persuades Verstappen to stay at Red Bull instead of move to Mercedes, remians to be seen.

Read next: Why Christian Horner’s exit isn’t a factor in Max Verstappen’s Red Bull future