Who is Tom Hart? Meet Max Verstappen's new F1 race engineer

Red Bull are making a major change on the pit wall, and on Max Verstappen's side of the garage.

Tom Hart, a long-standing senior performance engineer with the team, is taking over race engineer duties from Gianpiero Lambiase at a few races late this season. But who exactly is Verstappen’s new right-hand man?

The reshuffle comes as Lambiase prepares to leave for McLaren, where he will serve as Chief Racing Officer, reporting directly to Andrea Stella.

To keep the transition smooth – and to safeguard sensitive data before his mandatory break – Lambiase is being gradually sidelined from key technical meetings and will share responsibilities with his successor until the season’s close.

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Hart to take over duties gradually

Over the remaining races this season, the change on the onboard radio will unfold gradually. Hart will step up as the designated voice during three grands prix – in Austin, Brazil, and Las Vegas.

During these weekends, Lambiase will still be active at the track in his broader role as Head of Race Engineering, and will still serve as Verstappen’s primary race engineer in Mexico City, Qatar, and Abu Dhabi before Hart fully takes over next season.

GP and Max's successful partnership

Lambiase’s departure marks the end of one of Formula 1’s most successful partnerships. The partnership between Verstappen and Lambiase ranks as the second most successful driver-engineer duo in F1 history, only behind the pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Peter Bonnington.

With Hart joining the crew, Verstappen isn’t getting a stranger. The British engineer has long worked closely with him as a performance engineer and has even filled in for Lambiase before.

Hart had recently caught the attention of rival teams, and was even on the verge of a move away from the team in the not-too distant past. The Brit was close to sealing a deal with Williams for a prominent technical role.

However, a personal meeting with Verstappen turned those plans around: the four-time world champion singled out Hart as his ideal candidate to eventually replace Lambiase. This convinced Hart to extend his contract with Red Bull.

Simulator driver Rudy van Buren summed up the appointment: “The fact that these gentlemen know each other well – and that the decision has already been made – really shows the trust in maintaining that strong bond.”

Lambaiase and Verstappen's relationship hard to replicate

At the Singapore Grand Prix, Verstappen and Lambiase demonstrated yet again how strong their connection is.

Despite persistent onboard radio issues, the duo used coded communication to secure a win on the Marina Bay Street Circuit, with Lambiase even sharing the podium to collect the constructors’ trophy.

Verstappen made his expectations clear: “There are plenty of good engineers, but they can’t be too much of a nerd. They need to understand racing. Just looking at a laptop isn’t enough – you have to have the insight to see things like GP does.”

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