Lambiase to McLaren
Sources on social report that Gianpiero Lambiase, long-time race engineer to Max Verstappen, will leave Red Bull to join McLaren at the end of 2027 — Sky coverage even suggested 2028 as an alternate timing. (x.com) Multiple posts say ESPN and Sky confirmed the move, which is a substantial technical hire because a lead race engineer shapes car setup, strategy and in-race calls. (x.com)
Gianpiero Lambiase is the voice Max Verstappen hears every lap, and multiple outlets now report that voice is heading to McLaren after Red Bull. ESPN says the move would come at the end of the 2027 season, while Sky Sports says McLaren expects him from 2028. (espn.com) (skysports.com) A race engineer is the person who turns a fast car into a usable one on Sunday. He helps choose setup before qualifying, reads tire wear and fuel use during the race, and tells the driver when to push, defend, or change a switch on the steering wheel. (racer.com) (theathletic.com) Lambiase has been paired with Verstappen since Verstappen’s first Red Bull race in 2016, after initially joining Red Bull in 2015 to work with Daniil Kvyat. That makes this one of the longest and most successful driver-engineer pairings on the current Formula One grid. (theathletic.com) (gpfans.com) That partnership sat behind Verstappen’s four straight drivers’ championships from 2021 through 2024, because Lambiase was not just reading data but managing Verstappen’s race weekends in real time. Fans know him as “GP” on the radio, but inside Red Bull he also rose to head of race engineering. (espn.com) (racer.com) McLaren is not hiring a celebrity voice clip here. Sky Sports reports that Lambiase is expected to become head of race engineering, which would put him over the trackside engineering group rather than in Andrea Stella’s team principal seat. (skysports.com) That fits the way McLaren has been building. Racer reports that Chief Executive Officer Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella had targeted Lambiase for a long time, and McLaren arrives as the reigning constructors’ champion rather than a team trying to rebuild from scratch. (racer.com) (skysports.com) For Red Bull, this lands as another loss from the group that built the Verstappen era. Recent reports around the team have already centered on churn at senior level, and Lambiase was one of the last figures who connected the car, the pit wall, and Verstappen himself. (gpfans.com) (motorsportweek.com) The Verstappen angle is why this story jumped so fast. Sky Sports notes Verstappen has previously said he would consider leaving Formula One if Lambiase was not with him, and ESPN says Lambiase’s exit will add to questions about Verstappen’s own long-term future. (skysports.com) (espn.com) Nothing has been formally announced by the teams yet, and the exact start date is still the one moving part in the reporting. But if the timeline holds, McLaren has just taken one of the few people in Formula One who can influence a race from the garage, the pit wall, and the driver’s headset all at once. (espn.com) (skysports.com)
