McLaren F1 announce official signing of Gianpiero Lambiase from Red Bull

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McLaren announce official signing of Gianpiero Lambiase from Red Bull

Gianpiero Lambiase is leaving Red Bull

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 9 April 2026 16:40 Updated: 19:09

McLaren F1 team have announced the signing of Gianpiero Lambiase from Red Bull.

Max Verstappen's race engineer was confirmed earlier on Tuesday to be leaving the Milton Keynes-based outfit, with Red Bull announcing his departure in an official statement.

Lambiase will continue in his role as Red Bull head of racing and as Verstappen's race engineer until he leaves the team, but McLaren have now confirmed that he will be joining them no later than 2028 as chief racing officer.

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"McLaren Racing is pleased to announce that Gianpiero Lambiase will join the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team as chief racing officer, reporting to team principal, Andrea Stella," an official statement read.

"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.

"The team’s ability to attract and secure top talent, like Lambiase, and previously Rob Marshall and Will Courtenay, 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.

"The team look forward to welcoming Gianpiero Lambiase when his existing contract ends, no later than 2028."

Who is Gianpiero Lambiase?

Lambiase is the race engineer of four-time world champion Verstappen, and has been since the Dutchman joined Red Bull back in 2016.

Lambiase actually joined Red Bull a year earlier than that though, and was the race engineer for former Red Bull star Daniil Kvyat.

While he is best known for his work at Red Bull, Lambiase also worked for the Silverstone-based outfit for 11 years, who in that time were known as Jordan, Midland, Spyker and Force India.

His first gig as a race engineer came in 2010 at Force India with Vitantonio Liuzzi, before working at the same team with Paul di Resta and Sergio Perez.

Lambiase's current position at Red Bull is the most senior that he has held in his F1 career to date, being promoted to head of racing back in 2024 while still performing his duties as Verstappen's race engineer.

He will take a little step back from race weekends in his new role with McLaren, becoming their chief racing officer.

F1 Red Bull McLaren Gianpiero Lambiase