RacingGianpiero Lambiase’s planned move from Red Bull to McLaren has quickly become more than a staff story. With Max Verstappen, Red Bull and McLaren now tied to the biggest talking point of F1’s break, several well-known analysts are openly asking whether the loss of Verstappen’s longtime race engineer could mark the start of the end of his Red Bull career.
Lambiase is set to leave Red Bull by 2028 for a chief racing role at McLaren, according to the source reports. Since 2016, he has been Verstappen’s race engineer and, as several summaries described it, far more than a standard voice on the radio. He has been Verstappen’s link to the pit wall and a central part of the comfort the driver has felt inside the team.
That is why Will Buxton, broadcaster and presenter, framed the move in wider terms on the Up to Speed podcast. Buxton said this would be easier to dismiss if it were only about one team member leaving, but argued that Verstappen has already watched Christian Horner, Helmut Marko, Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley depart. “All those people have left, and Max is the only one from the top layer who is still there,” Buxton said, as broadcaster and presenter, on the Up to Speed podcast. He then asked how many more people have to go before Verstappen looks at Red Bull and thinks, “This is not the place anymore, and this is not the group with which I won all my world titles.” Buxton said, as broadcaster and presenter, on the Up to Speed podcast, that the question is whether this is already “the beginning of the end.”
David Coulthard, former F1 driver and pundit, took a slightly different line on the same Up to Speed podcast. Coulthard said the connection between Verstappen, his family and Red Bull, especially Austria, remains strong. But he also said “nothing lasts forever” in the sport. Coulthard said, as a former F1 driver and pundit, on the Up to Speed podcast, that if Red Bull cannot get back to winning form over the longer term, “and by that I really mean later this year,” Verstappen will begin looking at where his career is best served.
Coulthard also pushed the point further. He said, as a former F1 driver and pundit, on the Up to Speed podcast, that if Verstappen does not stay with Red Bull Racing, he likely would not stay in Formula 1 at all, because “he is obviously not going back to Racing Bulls.”
Jolyon Palmer, former F1 driver and F1 analyst, was even more direct on the latest F1 Nation podcast. Palmer called Lambiase’s departure “the tip of the iceberg” in Red Bull’s wider instability. He said Lambiase is “a fundamental figure” who acts as a bridge between the driver and the team. Palmer said, as a former F1 driver and analyst, on the F1 Nation podcast, that he does not see Verstappen staying for long, “probably not beyond the end of this year,” unless Red Bull has a concrete plan and shows clear signs of progress.
Palmer also tied that view to the team’s competitiveness and the number of senior departures. He said, as a former F1 driver and analyst, on the F1 Nation podcast, that Red Bull is not competitive and does not have a simple path back. He described the team by saying “the building is the same, but all the furniture has gone,” and later called the situation “the collapse of an empire,” arguing that so many major names have left that Red Bull no longer looks as attractive from the outside.
Taken together, the reaction around Lambiase’s exit has shifted the conversation. This is no longer just about Verstappen losing a race engineer. According to Buxton, Coulthard and Palmer, it raises a much bigger question about how much of Verstappen’s Red Bull world is still left around him.