RacingMcLaren team principal Andrea Stella has swatted away talk of a move to Ferrari after McLaren signed Gianpiero Lambiase from Red Bull, turning the whole story into a joke about “poisoned biscuits” and an “envious pastry chef” trying to ruin McLaren’s dessert.
The noise started when McLaren announced that Lambiase, Max Verstappen’s long-serving race engineer at Red Bull, will join the Woking team as chief racing officer no later than 2028. In McLaren’s official statement, the team said the role already exists within its structure and that its duties are currently handled by Stella alongside his job as team principal. The same statement said Lambiase will take on some of those responsibilities when he arrives and will strengthen the team’s talent pool.
That did not stop reports linking the move to a possible succession plan at McLaren and, from there, to claims that Stella could head back to Ferrari. PlanetF1.com reported on the day of Lambiase’s signing, citing sources, that Stella’s role remains unchanged and that he was not set for a Ferrari return, even if Lambiase may have been offered a future path to the top job as part of the move.
Stella then addressed the rumours himself in an interview on McLaren’s official website. “Honestly, some of the recent rumours, including those regarding astronomical salaries and mythical pre-contracts, have made me smile,” Stella, McLaren team principal, said on McLaren’s official website. He followed that with a line that left little room for doubt about how seriously he was taking the chatter. “It almost seems as though the ‘silly season’, which usually begins before summer, has arrived early! I’m quite used to this sort of thing by now and I take [it] with a smile,” Stella, McLaren team principal, said on McLaren’s official website.
He then leaned into the joke. “It almost looks like that some envious pastry chef has tried to spoil the preparation of a good dessert at the McLaren patisserie,” Stella, McLaren team principal, said on McLaren’s official website. He finished with the line that gave the denial its edge: “However, we do know very well how to distinguish the good ingredients from the poisoned biscuits….” Stella, McLaren team principal, said on McLaren’s official website.
McLaren’s own wording also cut against the idea that Lambiase is arriving to replace Stella. In its announcement, the team said the hire was meant “to strengthen and support the talent pool that exists at McLaren Mastercard.” McLaren also pointed to “the strategic vision and culture” under Zak Brown and Andrea Stella, and said in the same statement that Brown and Stella are both on long-term contracts.
Put together, the public message from McLaren is straightforward. Lambiase is coming in to take on part of a role Stella already carries, and Stella says the rumours about Ferrari, huge money and pre-contracts are just early silly season noise.