McLaren will strengthen itself in the future with Gianpiero Lambiase, Max Verstappen’s current race engineer. The team announced this on Thursday. Lambiase will leave Red Bull at the end of 2027 and then make the switch to the Woking-based team. McLaren CEO Zak Brown is delighted that the top engineer is joining the papayas. At the same time, he emphasizes that Lambiase will form a ‘fantastic’ team with the current team principal, Andrea Stella.
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“I am happy to share that Gianpiero Lambiase is joining McLaren as Chief Racing Officer“, Zak Brown wrote on social media this week. “He will report to team principal Andrea Stella when his contract expires at the end of 2027. He will join a fantastic team led by Andrea, and I am excited about what we can achieve together.” Lambiase is yet another Red Bull figurehead choosing to move to McLaren. Engineer Rob Marshall and head of strategy Will Courtenay preceded him.
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The duties of Chief Racing Officer were previously performed by Stella himself. With the arrival of Lambiase, who has reportedly been given a massive contract, the Italian could focus more on his primary responsibilities. However, insiders also link Stella to Ferrari, the team where he worked between 2000 and 2014. In that case, Lambiase could take on the role of team principal within McLaren. It is therefore striking that Zak Brown emphasizes in his reaction that Verstappen’s engineer will primarily work under Stella.
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