Red Bull F1 issue official statement over Gianpiero Lambiase shock exit

Gianpiero Lambiase, Max Verstappen, generic, 2025, Qatar — Photo: © IMAGO

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Red Bull issue official statement over Gianpiero Lambiase shock exit

Lambiase will officially leave Red Bull

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Thursday 9 April 2026 16:17 Updated: 16:52

Red Bull have released an official statement confirming the departure of Max Verstappen's F1 race engineer Gianpiero 'GP' Lambiase.

Lambiase has been Verstappen's race engineer since the Dutchman first joined the team in 2016 and alongside his pitwall duties, was also recently promoted to head of racing at Red Bull in 2024.

Lambiase will be leaving Red Bull to join McLaren however, where he will take on the existing role of chief racing officer, reporting into team principal Andrea Stella.

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Now Red Bull have released an official statement, confirming that Lambiase will leave the team in 2028 when his contract expires.

"Red Bull confirms that Gianpiero Lambiase will leave the team in 2028, when his current contract expires. GP is a valued member of the team, which he joined in 2015," a Red Bull spokesperson said.

"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 add more success to our strong track record together."

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Lambiase to join McLaren: What does this mean for Verstappen?

Lambiase is the third Red Bull team member to join McLaren in the past 18 months, with Rob Marshall also signing with the Woking-based outfit as their chief designer and Will Courtenay as their sporting director.

The 45-year-old's move to McLaren has quite naturally raised question marks over Verstappen's own future, with the four-time champion reportedly considering retirement.

Verstappen's current contract with Red Bull also expires in 2028, but could very well choose to leave earlier than this.

Following the news that Lambiase is leaving Red Bull, an interview from the race engineer with Dutch publication De Telegraaf has resurfaced from 2023.

In it, Lambiase said: "The day Max and I stop working together in this set-up will be the day I’m keen to take on a new challenge.

"I don’t think it would be fair to another driver if we tried to replicate what I’ve been doing with Max since May 2016.

"I see this as something incredibly special and don’t think anything like it will happen again. So I hope we’ll definitely continue on this basis until at least 2028. Unless he or the team decides otherwise, of course."

McLaren announcement silences Stella to Ferrari rumours

Lambiase's new role with McLaren led to claims from De Limburger journalist Jacky Martens about the future of McLaren team principal Stella.

According to Martens, Stella had already 'signed a pre-contract with Ferrari', but the recent announcement from McLaren suggests that the Italian is staying put.

McLaren's announcement regarding Lambiase made no reference to the departure of Stella, nor that he will be stepping down from his role of team principal to make way for GP.

F1 Red Bull Max Verstappen Gianpiero Lambiase