Max Verstappen’s long-serving race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase will leave Red Bull in 2028, the team has confirmed.

McLaren announced he will join them as chief racing officer after next season. In its announcement the team took care to squash rumours he will replace team principal Andrea Stella.

“The role of the chief racing officer already exists within the team’s structure with overall leadership of the race team,” the team noted. “These duties are currently managed by Andrea Stella in addition to his role as team principal.”

Lambiase is the latest in a series of senior staff members to depart Red Bull, several of which have joined the world champions, which McLaren alluded to in their announcement.

“The team’s ability to attract and secure top talent, like Lambiase, and previously Rob Marshall and Will Courtenay, alongside the retention and promotion of highly-talented people already within the team, is a testament to the strategic vision and culture that are integrally embodied in the McLaren Mastercard F1 Team under the leadership of Zak Brown and Andrea Stella, who are also both on long-term contracts,” it said.

Other major names who have left Red Bull in recent years include star designer Adrian Newey, to Aston Martin, as well as former team principal Christian Horner. Helmut Marko, who worked for Red Bull’s corporate arm with a consultancy role at the motorsport division, left at the end of last year.

Red Bull confirmed Lambiase’s departure in a brief statement on Thursday. “Gianpiero Lambiase will leave the team in 2028, when his current contract expires,” it said. “‘GP’ is a valued member of the team, which he joined in 2015.

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“Until his planned departure, ‘GP’ continues in his roles as head of racing and as race engineer to Max Verstappen. The team and he are fully committed to add more success to our strong track record together.”

Verstappen began working with Lambiase upon his arrival at the team in 2016. They won their first race together as Verstappen scored a shock triumph in the Spanish Grand Prix that year. Since then Verstappen has won four drivers’ titles and Red Bull have taken a pair of constructors’ championships.

Lambiase missed two of last year’s grands prix, in Austria and Belgium, due to personal reasons understood to involve an illness in his family. Simon Rennie substituted for him.

Verstappen’s future in F1 is also in doubt following his vehement criticism of the new 2026 regulations. He is contracted to remain at Red Bull until 2028 but is believed to have the option to exercise an exit clause allowing him to leave before then.

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Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 – when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring journalist, Keith began running the site full-time in 2010, achieving a long-held ambition to dedicate his full attention to his passion for motor racing. View all posts by Keith Collantine