Verstappen’s race engineer leaving

Max Verstappen is losing the voice he hears more than anyone else on a race weekend. Multiple outlets reported on April 9 that Gianpiero Lambiase, the engineer on Verstappen’s radio since 2016, will leave Red Bull after the 2027 season and is expected to join McLaren. (motorsport.com) (espn.com) A race engineer is the person who turns a Formula One car’s flood of data into plain instructions a driver can use at 200 miles per hour. He tells the driver when to push, when to save tires, when rain is coming, and whether a rival is trying an undercut at the pit stops. (formula1.com) Lambiase has done that job for Verstappen since Verstappen was promoted to Red Bull in May 2016. Formula One’s official site says the pair have been together for every Red Bull season since then, from Verstappen’s first win in Spain in 2016 through four straight world titles from 2021 to 2024. (formula1.com 1) (formula1.com 2) That relationship is unusually visible because Verstappen and Lambiase talk to each other in a way most driver-engineer pairings do not. Their radio exchanges are often blunt, but both men have described the bond as much more than a work arrangement, with Verstappen calling Lambiase a friend and Lambiase once saying Verstappen was “like my little brother.” (formula1.com 1) (formula1.com 2) Red Bull had already made Lambiase more important before this news broke. In September 2024, Formula One reported that Red Bull promoted him to Head of Racing as part of a restructure after sporting director Jonathan Wheatley left for Sauber, which will become Audi’s factory team. (formula1.com) So this is not just one driver losing a familiar voice in his helmet. It is Red Bull losing a senior trackside operator who sat in the middle of strategy calls, driver management, and the handoff between the garage and the pit wall. (formula1.com) (independent.co.uk) The timing lands in the middle of a longer Red Bull drain. Adrian Newey left Red Bull in 2024 and started at Aston Martin on March 1, 2025, and Wheatley also moved on, which means two of the team’s best-known senior figures were already gone before Lambiase’s exit was confirmed. (formula1.com) (astonmartinf1.com) (formula1.com) The destination matters too. ESPN, Sky Sports, Motorsport.com, and other outlets all pointed to McLaren, which has spent the last few years building one of Formula One’s strongest technical groups and has already hired former Red Bull figures including Rob Marshall and Will Courtenay. (espn.com) (skysports.com) (gpblog.com) For Verstappen, the practical problem is simple: the fastest driver on the grid will now need a new interpreter. A replacement can read the same timing screens and tire data, but eight seasons of shorthand, trust, and argument cannot be copied and pasted before lights out on a Sunday. (formula1.com 1) (formula1.com 2) And because Lambiase is not leaving until the end of 2027, the next 20 months could turn into a running subplot around Verstappen’s own future. On April 9, Motorsport.com said Red Bull had confirmed the exit, while ESPN reported Lambiase’s move could add to speculation around whether Verstappen stays tied to Red Bull beyond that same period. (motorsport.com) (espn.com)