Racing
© Jonathan Borba
McLaren has clarified that Gianpiero Lambiase will join the team in 2028 as Chief Racing Officer reporting to team principal Andrea Stella after Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies said in Miami that Max Verstappen’s long-time race engineer “is going to be a team principal there.”
The remark, made by Mekies to Sky Sports on Friday, quickly turned a future staffing move into a public dispute over authority at McLaren. Lambiase is set to leave Red Bull when his current deal expires at the end of 2027 and take up his new role with the current world champions no later than 2028, supporting Stella with the running of the trackside team.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown pushed back on Mekies’ version of events later the same day. “He knows something I don't, apparently,” Brown said. “I've got one, and I've got a great one. I've got the best one in pitlane, Andrea Stella. So I couldn't be happier with Andrea.” McLaren then put the matter in writing, stating that Lambiase “will take on the existing role of Chief Racing Officer, reporting into Team Principal Andrea Stella.”
Stella made clear he was not troubled by the speculation around his position. Andrea Stella, McLaren team principal, said the “recent rumours, including those regarding astronomical salaries and mythical pre-contracts, have made me smile,” adding that it seemed the “silly season” had arrived early. He took a sharper swipe at the rumor mill when he said it looked as though “some envious pastry chef has tried to spoil the preparation of a good dessert at the McLaren patisserie,” before adding that McLaren knows how to distinguish “the good ingredients from the poisoned biscuits.”
By Sunday morning in Miami, Brown, Mekies and Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff had met in Red Bull hospitality, and both teams shifted to cooling the situation. Mekies said Red Bull did not want to turn the matter into “a ping-pong” with McLaren. “We had a good chat about it, like we always do, and we move on,” he said. Brown struck the same tone afterward, saying: “No, everything is good. I get on very well with Laurent. We just had to clarify a few things.”
For Red Bull, the episode also reopened a broader question about the loss of senior personnel. Lambiase follows a run of departures that has included Rob Marshall and Will Courtenay to McLaren, Jonathan Wheatley to Audi and Adrian Newey to Aston Martin. Mekies said Red Bull would not frame that as a crisis. “I have said it many times, we don't want to be defensive about the fact that we lost some talent,” he said. “It's a fact. And it's been there for three or four years.”
Mekies said Red Bull’s response is to strengthen the environment around the team rather than react to individual exits. He described the “highest priority in the team” as creating the conditions “to retain, develop and attract the best talent in the pitlane.” He argued Red Bull already has that depth in place, pointing to Ben Hodgkinson on the power unit side and Pierre Waché on the chassis side, and saying the team believes it has “the best talent already, department by department.”
That is why Red Bull’s first option to replace Lambiase will be internal promotion. Mekies said the team will “always try to see how we can promote internally,” adding that Red Bull has “created a number of talents over the last few years” and wants to continue that way. He also made clear the team will recruit from outside when necessary. “If and when we need to go and get a specific set of skills or experience from some of our dear competitors around the pitlane, we will do it,” he said.
He pointed to recent changes as the model Red Bull intends to follow, describing “a very good mix” in its new structure, with Ben Waterhouse taking on “extended perimeters” and Andrea Landi joining soon from Ferrari and Racing Bulls. The immediate argument over what Lambiase will be called at McLaren may have cooled by Sunday, but Red Bull’s real challenge now is proving that another high-profile departure will not weaken the structure it says is still strong enough to rebuild from within.