Red Bull rebuild takes shape as F1 team 'find replacements' for Helmut Marko and Gianpiero Lambiase

Red Bull

Red Bull rebuild takes shape as F1 team 'find replacements' for Helmut Marko and Gianpiero Lambiase

Red Bull have had a mass exodus of big names leaving in the last few seasons

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 23 July 2026 18:57

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Red Bull F1 team have found replacements for both Helmut Marko and Gianpiero Lambaise, according to reports in German media.

Max Verstappen's close ally and long-time race engineer Lambiase is set to join McLaren in 2028 as their chief racing officer, news that was a huge blow to the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

Lambiase was the latest in a long line of key departures from Red Bull, with Christian Horner being axed last year, Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley moving on to new teams, and long-time motorsport advisor Helmut Marko retiring at the end of 2025.

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Marko had been in his position since 2005, and was one of the key figures in acquiring and nurturing young talents Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel, who would both go on to become four-time world champions.

It was revealed last week that Red Bull have found a replacement for Lambiase, with engineer Tom Hart said to be set to eventually take over as Verstappen’s race engineer once Lambiase leaves.

Hart had been slated to join Williams next year as Alex Albon’s race engineer, but reports in Dutch media suggest team principal Laurent Mekies has been able to persuade him to stay.

Now, Motorsport-Total are also reporting that Red Bull have a replacement lined up for Marko.

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Who will replace Marko at Red Bull?

The above publication are suggesting that, as well as Hart's potential promotion, Red Bull are also looking to sign Mercedes talent scout Gwen Lagrue.

Lagrue is the head of the Mercedes young driver programme, meaning he is responsible for scouting out some of the best future talent up and down the junior categories, including current championship leader Kimi Antonelli.

Just like Marko unearthed Verstappen, Lagrue is credited with unearthing Antonelli's talent.

In this sense he would be a like-for-like replacement for Marko at Red Bull, and would ensure the future is bright for the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

However, when the rumours were first in the news last week, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff provided a comment on the speculation.

Addressing Lagrue's position, Wolff said: "We're in discussions with Gwen about the future, but nothing's been agreed or decided yet.

"Gwen has built up a fantastic team, we're about seven, eight or nine people that are running the junior programme going forward, with a handful of juniors. With Bradley (Lord) stepping up as a deputy principal, these things need to be carved out now. We want to do it together with Gwen."