Racing
© Spencer
Zak Brown said McLaren’s move for Gianpiero Lambiase is about easing Andrea Stella’s workload and strengthening the team for the long term, not preparing a replacement for its team principal.
McLaren confirmed that Lambiase will join from Red Bull as Chief Racing Officer no later than 2028, when his current contract ends. Brown, McLaren CEO, said the new recruit will work on the racing operations side and report into Stella as part of a structure designed to add stability rather than trigger a reshuffle.
Brown was blunt when asked about speculation that Lambiase could eventually take Stella’s job while Stella himself might leave for Ferrari. “Can I confirm that that’s complete nonsense? I can confirm that it’s complete nonsense,” he said. Brown added that Stella is “very committed” to McLaren, that the team is “very committed to Andrea,” and said: “We couldn’t be happier.”
He also rejected any suggestion that the two men are on separate tracks inside the organization. Brown said he was “100 percent” certain Stella and Lambiase would work together, stressing that “Andrea is the one, ultimately, who hired GP.”
The reasoning behind the hire, Brown said, is the scale of Stella’s current brief. He described the Italian as covering “three jobs” at McLaren: “He’s the team principal. He runs the racing team and he also plays a big role in kind of a technical director capacity.” Brown added that Peter Prodromou remains “the other technical director,” while Stella acts as “kind of the glue that brings that together.”
That concentration of responsibility is what McLaren is trying to address. Brown said modern Formula 1 teams have grown so large that asking one person to carry all of those functions is “a tall order,” even if Stella is capable of doing two of them. In that context, Lambiase’s appointment is meant to take on part of the load Stella currently carries rather than alter the leadership above him.
Stella, Team Principal at McLaren, made the same case in an interview published on the McLaren Racing website. He said Lambiase’s arrival will bring “a great amount of expertise and potential to the team for the long term” and described the Chief Racing Officer post as “a position I currently hold alongside my role as team principal.” Stella said he and Brown had worked over the past three years to ensure continuity in leadership and expertise, adding that the dual role he currently holds “could not be sustainable in the long run.”
Brown cast the signing as part of McLaren’s longer-range planning. “Very excited to have GP join us,” he said, explaining that his job is to provide “stability and visibility to the future.” He said Lambiase “will come in and play a great role there” and argued that, given his experience and age, he is someone who “can be here for a long time at McLaren and grow.”
The only uncertainty is timing. Brown told Sky Sports F1 there is “always a chance” Lambiase could arrive before 2028, but made clear McLaren will not push against Red Bull’s contract position. “He has a contract and that we’re going to respect,” Brown said, adding that Red Bull would first need “a solution” before opening any dialogue. Until then, McLaren is prepared to wait, which leaves the key point unchanged: Lambiase is being brought in to reinforce Stella’s leadership, not replace it.