A future move by Gianpiero Lambiase is yet more proof that McLaren is deliberately fishing Red Bull Racing’s pond empty. A smart tactic, because you make your own racing team stronger and that of your rival weaker. Max Verstappen’s famous race engineer is not McLaren’s first big catch.
Read more Bleekemolen on Lambiase’s Red Bull departure: ‘One less reason for Max to stay’
It is a tactic you also see in football sometimes: a club takes over the rival’s best players and repeatedly deals a new blow to the most formidable competitor. Bayern Munich, for example, has been doing it for years in the Bundesliga.
Read also: Lambiase makes the switch from Red Bull to McLaren
Unlike in football, Formula 1 often has a ‘gardening leave’, a period during which no work may be performed for the new team. McLaren therefore cannot immediately benefit from every top talent they snatch from a rival. But even if you don’t immediately improve yourself, at least the competitor is already suffering from it.
Big fish
Success has many fathers, also at Red Bull Racing. Max Verstappen is logically considered the driving force behind his own four world titles, but many others within the team also played a prominent role in that. Two of them were previously reeled in by McLaren; Lambiase will then be the third big fish to end up in Woking.
Read also: Bleekmolen: ‘Lambiase’s departure is one less reason for Max to stay’
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Rob Marshall was the first. He was considered a technical mastermind within Red Bull and McLaren signed him in 2024. He has become Chief Designer. From being a pillar in Milton Keynes, he brought a winning DNA to Woking. It is no coincidence that McLaren’s constructors’ titles in 2024 and 2025 followed his arrival, with Lando Norris’s drivers’ championship as the icing on the cake.
After Marshall came the arrival of Will Courtenay. He became Sporting Director at McLaren, a promotion for the Red Bull strategist. Courtenay has been officially employed by McLaren since the beginning of this year and is considered a welcome addition to the formation of Zack Brown and associates, which does not always perform well tactically.
Thus, in the recent past, McLaren has already removed two stings from Red Bull Racing’s success. And with Lambiase, a third will be added in the near future. No coincidence. Definitely a tactic. And a smart one too.
Read more Gianpiero Lambiase leaves Verstappen and Red Bull, moves to McLaren
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