ANALYSIS: What we know about Lambiase's move from Red Bull to McLaren – and what it means for Verstappen

McLaren have secured quite the coup by tempting Max Verstappen’s long-serving race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase away from Red Bull when his current contract expires at the end of 2027 to bolster and enhance their stellar line-up of senior leaders. F1 Correspondent Lawrence Barretto explains what we know about the blockbuster move…

How did McLaren convince Lambiase to leave Red Bull?

Lambiase – who has worked with Verstappen since the Dutchman joined the team from the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix and has since built up one of the closest driver-engineer partnerships on the grid – has been weighing up his future and considering a move away from Red Bull for some time so his departure isn’t a massive surprise. His destination, though, was unexpected.

Aston Martin chased him hard last year in a bid to bring him across to the Silverstone-based team that has seen huge investment from billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll plus the influx of some very talented personnel, including design guru Adrian Newey from Red Bull and technical chief Enrico Cardile from Ferrari.

I understand at least two other teams – including McLaren – also sounded him out on the downlow, giving Lambiase a good idea of what was on offer. At the same time, he was assessing what life might look like if he stayed at Red Bull beyond the end of his current deal.

Lambiase has been interested in a senior management role and that led Red Bull in recent years to do what it could to extend his role far beyond his duties as Verstappen’s engineer and it is believed he had become one of the most influential voices at the team.

But when reigning World Champions McLaren came calling with the offer of Chief Racing Officer, in support of Team Principal Andrea Stella with a focus on running the trackside team, it was a big opportunity and one that proved too enticing to ignore.

The move isn't about McLaren preparing for life without Stella but rather an opportunity to free Stella up to focus on his overall leadership duties and make the most of his impressive skillset.

Stella was covering the duties Lambiase will take on – and it was always the intention to find support with most leading structures in Formula 1 employing a suite of senior management to shoulder the significant job list required in running a race team across the factory and the race track.

McLaren are an increasingly impressive proposition. Not only have they proved they have what it takes to win a World Championship – and defend it – in recent years but they are taking steps to future-proof themselves by building out their senior management to give them long-term stability.

They know they need to consistently get stronger to remain at the front of the pack, which is why over the last few years they've moved to strengthen across the board. They brought in Rob Marshall to head up the engineering and design arm of the technical team and Will Courtenay as Sporting Director. Lambiase joining will make it three recruits from Red Bull.

It feels like McLaren are only just getting going in terms of trying to morph themselves into a consistent World Championship-contending team – and with Lambiase’s immense experience from the pit wall, he'll compliment an increasingly improving senior leadership team.

What does it mean for Red Bull?

It’ll be a tough one to take for Red Bull, who have seen several key personnel depart in the last couple of years, including long-time boss Christian Horner, Motorsport Adviser Helmut Marko, Sporting Director Jonathan Wheatley, Chief Designer Craig Skinner and Verstappen’s chief mechanic Matt Caller.

On one hand, it’s not uncommon for a turnover of staff during a fallow period that comes after a decent period of success – but the number of significant personnel leaving Red Bull in a reasonably short space of time is notable.

Red Bull will need to reverse the trend of departures and start attracting some high-profile names of their own, as they did when they brought Newey in from McLaren or Marshall over from Renault.

Lambiase’s contract runs until the end of 2027, meaning he wouldn’t be free to work with McLaren until 2028 so they've not lost him yet.

But it remains to be seen whether the two parties will come to an arrangement to end that deal early. They did just that when they agreed to let Wheatley leave before his gardening leave was up to become Audi’s Team Principal – but they held out much longer with McLaren when it came to releasing Courtenay.

Boss Laurent Mekies has his work cut out trying to revitalise a team that developed impressively to keep Verstappen in the title fight until the decider last year, but are now paying the price for that spend with an underdeveloped car that is off the pace and has left them mired in the midfield.

This latest loss is not ideal but Mekies has been working hard to bring a new feel to Red Bull and he will retain belief in his plan to write a new chapter at the Milton Keynes-based team by laying the foundations for another period of dominance in F1, which in turn should make it more attractive to potential talent.

What does Lambiase’s departure mean for Verstappen?

Lambiase and Verstappen have built a formidable partnership at Red Bull, with the duo winning four World Championships and 71 Grands Prix – so it will be the end of an era when they separate.

Given how close they are, it’s unlikely today’s news will have come as a shock to Verstappen. While losing someone who has become part of his inner circle is not ideal, Verstappen is pragmatic about these things and in isolation it’s unlikely to directly trigger the Dutchman to want to leave the team he has been with since 2016.

However, it is another factor that will form part of the discussion in his mind as to what he does next.

Like Lambiase, Verstappen has been mulling his future for some time now – with Mercedes having had talks with him and his team last year about a move before he decided to stay put for 2026.

While he has a contract until the end of 2028, there are believed to be get-out clauses (as is the case in most F1 contracts) and it is likely that if Red Bull don’t dramatically improve their form by a certain point in the year, Verstappen will be able to extricate himself early and move elsewhere.

Verstappen has endured the toughest start to a season since 2018 – and so it’s natural that he is frustrated with his current situation.

He must now decide whether or not he fancies the task of working with Red Bull to bring them back to the front, or try his luck with another team, or decide to take a break from F1. Much will depend on how quickly Red Bull can improve their performance over the next few months, starting with the next race in Miami.