There are many possible ways to interpret Gianpiero Lambiase’s announced move from Red Bull to McLaren (currently scheduled for 2028).

Not unnaturally, it is being generally perceived through the lens of the already-disgruntled Max Verstappen losing his race engineer and what the implications of that may be upon the driver’s future. In the kaleidoscope of factors Verstappen will be considering in deciding that future, the loss of such a key ally would surely be in there.

But Lambiase isn’t moving immediately. He’s not – so far – even scheduled to be on gardening leave and is still set to be working at Red Bull for the next two seasons. Verstappen is talking of not continuing beyond this season, so whether his race engineer will still be there two years down the line would not, on the surface of things, seem to be relevant. As things stand, Verstappen is contracted to the end of 2028, with Lambiase scheduled to be there until part-way through ’28. 

However, the reality of Lambiase’s situation may be somewhat different. With McLaren and Red Bull clearly co-ordinating the wording of their announcements about Lambiase, it would not be at all surprising if McLaren’s initial, “[We] look forward to welcoming Gianpiero Lambiase when his existing contract ends, no later than 2028,” is just the opening negotiating position for the terms of his earlier release into his new role of McLaren’s chief racing officer. 

If, for example, the two teams reached an agreement for him to begin his new role from the start of next season, the difference in timing from the original announcement would not be unprecedented. In that event, we might expect him to begin serving his gardening leave as soon as that negotiation between the teams was completed. Verstappen will be fully apprised of all this. 

Verstappen’s decision about whether or not he continues in F1 next season will not be dictated by the identity of his race engineer alone, but obviously, their connection has become a close one, and it will be just one more tick in Max’s minus column.

Similarly, although Lambiase has made his name in guiding Verstappen to four world titles and dozens of grand prix victories, he is ambitious in his own right and not just as an extension of Verstappen. The departure of Jonathan Wheatley from the team as sporting director at the end of 2024 created the room to give Lambiase the more senior role (head of race engineering) he had been pushing for (while overlapping his race engineer role with Verstappen). Had Wheatley not left, Lambiase may well have departed before now to seek a more senior role elsewhere. His reputation has been built to the extent that he has been pursued by several other teams for such roles. 

At 46 years old, it’s prime time for him to forge onwards with his career. The role of chief racing officer at McLaren effectively makes him deputy team principal there, the next in line for the team boss role should Andrea Stella ever decide to move on. It’s a brilliant opportunity for Lambiase and de-couples him from forever being seen as an adjunct to Verstappen. 

The impetus of this move has come from Lambiase. It would be wrong to assume it to be about Verstappen’s future plans.