F1 2026: Red Bull fury over 'childish' McLaren as 'animosity' festers between F1 rivals

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Red Bull fury over 'childish' McLaren as 'animosity' festers between F1 rivals

Gianpiero Lambiase's transfer to McLaren has created animosity

By Remy Ramjiawan.

Thursday 7 May 2026 20:28

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Over the Miami Grand Prix weekend, Zak Brown visited the Red Bull Racing pit box. During his visit, he had an exchange with Laurent Mekies, who inadvertently revealed a little too much about Gianpiero Lambiase’s departure from McLaren.

F1 journalist from De Telegraaf Erik van Haren now claims tensions are rising between Red Bull and McLaren.

In recent years, McLaren and Red Bull have frequently clashed on the track. Off the circuit, however, behind-the-scenes conflicts have also surfaced.

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Brown has never been a fan of Red Bull’s arrangement with its sister team, Racing Bulls. On top of that, the Woking outfit has lured several high-profile names away from Red Bull in recent times.

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Mekies discloses Lambiase’s McLaren role

Over the weekend, tensions flared further between Brown and Mekies. The discussion centered on Lambiase’s exit, during which Mekies hinted that 'GP' might be taking on the role of team boss at McLaren. Brown responded by suggesting that Mekies might know something he doesn’t.

In De Telegraaf's F1 podcast, Van Haren elaborated on the matter: “Mekies and Zak Brown had a bit of a spat. GP has secured a fantastic opportunity at McLaren as team boss – something that’s been an open secret for a while. The problem is that McLaren hasn’t made an official announcement yet.”

Red Bull anger over McLaren statement

On Sunday, the two team bosses met to talk things over. Although the tension appears to have cooled slightly, the relationship between the teams remains less than ideal.

Van Haren explained, “There’s still some underlying friction. In McLaren’s press release announcing Lambiase, they also mentioned two former Red Bull names they had previously signed.

Red Bull dismissed that as a bit childish. Clearly, there’s still some animosity between the teams.”

F1 Red Bull McLaren Zak Brown Gianpiero Lambiase Laurent Mekies