Max Verstappen to change race engineer as Gianpiero Lambiase steps aside

After celebrating with long-time race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase on the podium at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, Max Verstappen will have a different voice in his ear for the US Grand Prix next time out.

It was announced months ago that Lambiase has agreed too join McLaren when his Red Bull contract expires at the end of the 2027 season, with his current team already working on a succession plan.

Part of that succession plan is performance engineer Tom Hart, who had been linked with a move away from the team earlier in the year but now appears to be sticking around - possibly tempted by the possibility of filling Lambiase's shoes.

Hart is expected to take over some of Lambiase's duties with the team once Verstappen's long-time race engineer leaves for McLaren and, while the team haven't confirmed a timeline for a full handover of his duties, it seems likely that Hart will be the man in the chair for the four-time world champion full-time next season.

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Dutch insider Erik van Haren has now revealed that Hart – who took over race engineer duties for Verstappen in practice for the Italian Grand Prix – will take over next time out in Austin, as well as in Brazil and Las Vegas.

GPFans has approached Red Bull for comment.

It was confirmed last month that Tom McCullough will leave Aston Martin at the end of the year to join Red Bull as their Head of Racing for 2027, a position that Lambiase currently holds alongside his work with Verstappen.

The expectation is that Lambaise's two roles in the team will be split between McCullough and Hart, with the latter taking up the mantle of Verstappen's race engineer.

While Red Bull have no obligation to release Lambiase before the end of his contract, it's widely expected that they and McLaren will come to some kind of arrangement to allow the popular 45-year-old to depart at some point in the 2027 season.

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