Max Verstappen’s long-time Formula One race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase is to leave Red Bull and join McLaren in a supporting role to team principal Andrea Stella.
There was no immediate comment from either team on Thursday, but senior insiders confirmed the move, first reported in Dutch media, to Reuters.
The news was also reported by the BBC and Sky Sports, with 2028 given as the likely start date for a man who has been working with Verstappen since 2016 and has played a key role in helping the Dutch driver to four world championships.
Lambiase, 45, had also been linked with Silverstone-based Aston Martin, whose team principal is former Red Bull star designer Adrian Newey.
Stella set to stay as Principal
While Aston Martin has endured a nightmare start to the season, struggling to even finish races with an uncompetitive Honda engine, McLaren won both titles last year with champion Lando Norris and teammate Oscar Piastri.
Lambiase is expected to become head of race engineering at McLaren once a potentially long period of ‘gardening leave’ comes to an end, with former Ferrari engineer Stella continuing in his position.
Stella, who worked with Michael Schumacher in a golden era at Ferrari in the early 2000s, has a multi-year contract with McLaren and no intention of returning to Maranello despite some media speculation about his future.
The close but forthright relationship between Verstappen and ‘GP’ over the team radio has become a familiar part of Formula One, similar to the pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington during the seven-time world champion’s spell at Mercedes.
Former Red Bull boss Christian Horner, fired last July, once compared the relationship to that of “an old married couple arguing about what to watch on television.
READ: F1 technical heads to meet, discuss new engine rules
“The dynamic between the two is so intense that in between you have to ask yourself who is supposed to be the driver and who is supposed to be the engineer here.”
Losing the Briton will be a blow to Verstappen after the departure of other important figures in recent seasons and once-dominant Red Bull’s waning performance on track, but the 28-year-old has also increasingly cast doubt on his own longevity in the sport.
“I’m thinking about everything inside this paddock,” he said in Japan last month.
Verstappen is no fan of the sport’s new engine era and rules that force drivers to manage energy deployment and take corners at less than full speed.
In 2021, when they won a first title together, the Dutchman went so far as to say that he would not continue without Lambiase.
“I have said to him I only work with him. As soon as he stops, I stop too,” he told Dutch broadcaster Ziggo Sport. “We can be pretty strict with each other sometimes, but I want that. He has to tell me when I’m being a jerk, and I have to tell him.”
McLaren already has former Red Bull employees Rob Marshall and Will Courtenay in senior roles as chief designer and sporting director, respectively.
Published on Apr 09, 2026
![Formula One: Antonelli wins Japanese GP as Bearman crash exposes dangerous differential issue If the race in Shanghai was a glimpse of Kimi Antonelli’s talent, the following Japanese Grand Prix was evidence that the prodigy will be a strong contender for the driver’s championship in the 2026 F1 season.With more than a big slice of luck — a cheap pit stop during a Safety Car period propelling him to the top of the timesheet — the Italian recovered from a poor getaway at the start to take his second consecutive victory.The records keep tumbling for Antonelli. He is now the first teenager to lead the championship standings since Lewis Hamilton in 2007 and the first Italian driver to win back-to-back races since Alberto Ascari in 1953.Teammate George Russell endured a frustrating day out in Suzuka, failing to finish on the podium for the first time this season. Despite the pace advantage of the Mercedes, the Briton failed to get past the Ferrari of third-placed Charles Leclerc in the dying laps of the race, conceding the championship lead to his junior teammate.McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who had failed to start either of the first two races of the season, came home in second and could have even been on the top step if not for the untimely Safety Car.The exciting three-team battle for the top six places is sure to have brought entertainment, but the Japanese Grand Prix highlighted a systemic fault line within the 2026 regulations, one that could have worse consequences than what played out on track. On lap 22, Haas’ Ollie Bearman was involved in a 50G crash (force fifty times the earth’s gravitational pull) when his car slammed into the barriers at the Spoon Curve (Turn 13). The incident occurred when the young English driver had to veer out of the way of a slow-moving Franco Colapinto, causing him to dip a tyre into the grass and lose control of the car.Why the Alpine was moving slowly opened a Pandora’s box that F1 hoped to avoid with the new regulations. The crash was due to the high closing speed (the total speed at which two objects approach each other), which occurred due to Colapinto and Bearman’s opposing strategies. While the Argentinian was looking to harvest energy into the battery by going slower, Bearman had unlocked more speed by deploying battery power. While taking evasive action, the Haas car ran through a brake marker board before sliding into the barriers along the wall. Bearman was seen limping back to the service road after the high-impact crash. Oliver Bearman’s mangled car after the crash.
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images
Oliver Bearman’s mangled car after the crash.
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images
Williams driver and director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, Carlos Sainz, called it an accident waiting to happen, suggesting that F1 and the FIA had not heeded the drivers’ safety concerns. “We’ve been warning them about this happening. I’m not very happy with what we’ve had up until now.Hopefully, we come up with a better solution that doesn’t create these massive closing speeds and [ensures] a safer way of going racing,” the Spaniard told reporters after the race. “Here, we were lucky there was an escape road. Now imagine going to Baku or going to Singapore or going to Vegas and having this kind of closing speeds and crashes next to the walls,” he added.The crash and the subsequent complaints from the drivers forced the FIA to put out a statement regarding prospective changes to the energy management system. “A number of meetings are scheduled in April to assess the operation of the new regulations and to determine whether any refinements are required. Any potential adjustments require careful simulation and detailed analysis. At this stage, any speculation regarding the nature of potential changes would be premature,” the statement read.With five weeks to go before the next Grand Prix in Miami, due to the cancellation of the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the FIA and F1 management will have to come up with a solution to tackle the issues of closing speeds, which are inherent in this generation of battery-powered racing. Safety should be priority number one, even if that entails taking a few steps back in the use of electrical energy.MotoGP Marco Bezzecchi celebrates with his United States Grand Prix trophy.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
Marco Bezzecchi celebrates with his United States Grand Prix trophy.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
Marco Bezzecchi extended his winning streak to five races after victory at the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). He led an Aprilia 1-2 with teammate Jorge Martin, who had won the sprint race on Saturday but started seventh on the grid, ahead of KTM’s Pedro Acosta.Despite only starting on the second row, Bezzecchi surged into second place before the first corner, then overtook leader Acosta after a slight argy-bargy, which resulted in his seat padding flying off the bike. When he crossed the start-finish straight at the end of lap one, he broke Jorge Lorenzo’s record for the most consecutive MotoGP laps led.Pole-sitter Fabio Di Giannantonio finished fourth as the lead Ducati ahead of defending champion Marc Marquez, who responded after serving a long-lap penalty to round out the top five.Published on Apr 08, 2026 #Formula #Antonelli #wins #Japanese #Bearman #crash #exposes #dangerous #differential #issue](https://ss-i.thgim.com/public/magazine/j7xy9x/article70838198.ece/alternates/FREE_1200/GettyImages-2268881319.jpg "Formula One: Antonelli wins Japanese GP as Bearman crash exposes dangerous differential issue If the race in Shanghai was a glimpse of Kimi Antonelli’s talent, the following Japanese Grand Prix was evidence that the prodigy will be a strong contender for the driver’s championship in the 2026 F1 season.With more than a big slice of luck — a cheap pit stop during a Safety Car period propelling him to the top of the timesheet — the Italian recovered from a poor getaway at the start to take his second consecutive victory.The records keep tumbling for Antonelli. He is now the first teenager to lead the championship standings since Lewis Hamilton in 2007 and the first Italian driver to win back-to-back races since Alberto Ascari in 1953.Teammate George Russell endured a frustrating day out in Suzuka, failing to finish on the podium for the first time this season. Despite the pace advantage of the Mercedes, the Briton failed to get past the Ferrari of third-placed Charles Leclerc in the dying laps of the race, conceding the championship lead to his junior teammate.McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who had failed to start either of the first two races of the season, came home in second and could have even been on the top step if not for the untimely Safety Car.The exciting three-team battle for the top six places is sure to have brought entertainment, but the Japanese Grand Prix highlighted a systemic fault line within the 2026 regulations, one that could have worse consequences than what played out on track. On lap 22, Haas’ Ollie Bearman was involved in a 50G crash (force fifty times the earth’s gravitational pull) when his car slammed into the barriers at the Spoon Curve (Turn 13). The incident occurred when the young English driver had to veer out of the way of a slow-moving Franco Colapinto, causing him to dip a tyre into the grass and lose control of the car.Why the Alpine was moving slowly opened a Pandora’s box that F1 hoped to avoid with the new regulations. The crash was due to the high closing speed (the total speed at which two objects approach each other), which occurred due to Colapinto and Bearman’s opposing strategies. While the Argentinian was looking to harvest energy into the battery by going slower, Bearman had unlocked more speed by deploying battery power. While taking evasive action, the Haas car ran through a brake marker board before sliding into the barriers along the wall. Bearman was seen limping back to the service road after the high-impact crash. Oliver Bearman’s mangled car after the crash.
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images
Oliver Bearman’s mangled car after the crash.
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images
Williams driver and director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, Carlos Sainz, called it an accident waiting to happen, suggesting that F1 and the FIA had not heeded the drivers’ safety concerns. “We’ve been warning them about this happening. I’m not very happy with what we’ve had up until now.Hopefully, we come up with a better solution that doesn’t create these massive closing speeds and [ensures] a safer way of going racing,” the Spaniard told reporters after the race. “Here, we were lucky there was an escape road. Now imagine going to Baku or going to Singapore or going to Vegas and having this kind of closing speeds and crashes next to the walls,” he added.The crash and the subsequent complaints from the drivers forced the FIA to put out a statement regarding prospective changes to the energy management system. “A number of meetings are scheduled in April to assess the operation of the new regulations and to determine whether any refinements are required. Any potential adjustments require careful simulation and detailed analysis. At this stage, any speculation regarding the nature of potential changes would be premature,” the statement read.With five weeks to go before the next Grand Prix in Miami, due to the cancellation of the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the FIA and F1 management will have to come up with a solution to tackle the issues of closing speeds, which are inherent in this generation of battery-powered racing. Safety should be priority number one, even if that entails taking a few steps back in the use of electrical energy.MotoGP Marco Bezzecchi celebrates with his United States Grand Prix trophy.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
Marco Bezzecchi celebrates with his United States Grand Prix trophy.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
Marco Bezzecchi extended his winning streak to five races after victory at the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). He led an Aprilia 1-2 with teammate Jorge Martin, who had won the sprint race on Saturday but started seventh on the grid, ahead of KTM’s Pedro Acosta.Despite only starting on the second row, Bezzecchi surged into second place before the first corner, then overtook leader Acosta after a slight argy-bargy, which resulted in his seat padding flying off the bike. When he crossed the start-finish straight at the end of lap one, he broke Jorge Lorenzo’s record for the most consecutive MotoGP laps led.Pole-sitter Fabio Di Giannantonio finished fourth as the lead Ducati ahead of defending champion Marc Marquez, who responded after serving a long-lap penalty to round out the top five.Published on Apr 08, 2026 #Formula #Antonelli #wins #Japanese #Bearman #crash #exposes #dangerous #differential #issue")
![Formula One: Antonelli wins Japanese GP as Bearman crash exposes dangerous differential issue If the race in Shanghai was a glimpse of Kimi Antonelli’s talent, the following Japanese Grand Prix was evidence that the prodigy will be a strong contender for the driver’s championship in the 2026 F1 season.With more than a big slice of luck — a cheap pit stop during a Safety Car period propelling him to the top of the timesheet — the Italian recovered from a poor getaway at the start to take his second consecutive victory.The records keep tumbling for Antonelli. He is now the first teenager to lead the championship standings since Lewis Hamilton in 2007 and the first Italian driver to win back-to-back races since Alberto Ascari in 1953.Teammate George Russell endured a frustrating day out in Suzuka, failing to finish on the podium for the first time this season. Despite the pace advantage of the Mercedes, the Briton failed to get past the Ferrari of third-placed Charles Leclerc in the dying laps of the race, conceding the championship lead to his junior teammate.McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who had failed to start either of the first two races of the season, came home in second and could have even been on the top step if not for the untimely Safety Car.The exciting three-team battle for the top six places is sure to have brought entertainment, but the Japanese Grand Prix highlighted a systemic fault line within the 2026 regulations, one that could have worse consequences than what played out on track. On lap 22, Haas’ Ollie Bearman was involved in a 50G crash (force fifty times the earth’s gravitational pull) when his car slammed into the barriers at the Spoon Curve (Turn 13). The incident occurred when the young English driver had to veer out of the way of a slow-moving Franco Colapinto, causing him to dip a tyre into the grass and lose control of the car.Why the Alpine was moving slowly opened a Pandora’s box that F1 hoped to avoid with the new regulations. The crash was due to the high closing speed (the total speed at which two objects approach each other), which occurred due to Colapinto and Bearman’s opposing strategies. While the Argentinian was looking to harvest energy into the battery by going slower, Bearman had unlocked more speed by deploying battery power. While taking evasive action, the Haas car ran through a brake marker board before sliding into the barriers along the wall. Bearman was seen limping back to the service road after the high-impact crash. Oliver Bearman’s mangled car after the crash.
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images
Oliver Bearman’s mangled car after the crash.
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images
Williams driver and director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, Carlos Sainz, called it an accident waiting to happen, suggesting that F1 and the FIA had not heeded the drivers’ safety concerns. “We’ve been warning them about this happening. I’m not very happy with what we’ve had up until now.Hopefully, we come up with a better solution that doesn’t create these massive closing speeds and [ensures] a safer way of going racing,” the Spaniard told reporters after the race. “Here, we were lucky there was an escape road. Now imagine going to Baku or going to Singapore or going to Vegas and having this kind of closing speeds and crashes next to the walls,” he added.The crash and the subsequent complaints from the drivers forced the FIA to put out a statement regarding prospective changes to the energy management system. “A number of meetings are scheduled in April to assess the operation of the new regulations and to determine whether any refinements are required. Any potential adjustments require careful simulation and detailed analysis. At this stage, any speculation regarding the nature of potential changes would be premature,” the statement read.With five weeks to go before the next Grand Prix in Miami, due to the cancellation of the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the FIA and F1 management will have to come up with a solution to tackle the issues of closing speeds, which are inherent in this generation of battery-powered racing. Safety should be priority number one, even if that entails taking a few steps back in the use of electrical energy.MotoGP Marco Bezzecchi celebrates with his United States Grand Prix trophy.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
Marco Bezzecchi celebrates with his United States Grand Prix trophy.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
Marco Bezzecchi extended his winning streak to five races after victory at the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). He led an Aprilia 1-2 with teammate Jorge Martin, who had won the sprint race on Saturday but started seventh on the grid, ahead of KTM’s Pedro Acosta.Despite only starting on the second row, Bezzecchi surged into second place before the first corner, then overtook leader Acosta after a slight argy-bargy, which resulted in his seat padding flying off the bike. When he crossed the start-finish straight at the end of lap one, he broke Jorge Lorenzo’s record for the most consecutive MotoGP laps led.Pole-sitter Fabio Di Giannantonio finished fourth as the lead Ducati ahead of defending champion Marc Marquez, who responded after serving a long-lap penalty to round out the top five.Published on Apr 08, 2026 #Formula #Antonelli #wins #Japanese #Bearman #crash #exposes #dangerous #differential #issue](https://i2.wp.com/ss-i.thgim.com/public/magazine/j7xy9x/article70838198.ece/alternates/FREE_1200/GettyImages-2268881319.jpg?ssl=1 "Formula One: Antonelli wins Japanese GP as Bearman crash exposes dangerous differential issue If the race in Shanghai was a glimpse of Kimi Antonelli’s talent, the following Japanese Grand Prix was evidence that the prodigy will be a strong contender for the driver’s championship in the 2026 F1 season.With more than a big slice of luck — a cheap pit stop during a Safety Car period propelling him to the top of the timesheet — the Italian recovered from a poor getaway at the start to take his second consecutive victory.The records keep tumbling for Antonelli. He is now the first teenager to lead the championship standings since Lewis Hamilton in 2007 and the first Italian driver to win back-to-back races since Alberto Ascari in 1953.Teammate George Russell endured a frustrating day out in Suzuka, failing to finish on the podium for the first time this season. Despite the pace advantage of the Mercedes, the Briton failed to get past the Ferrari of third-placed Charles Leclerc in the dying laps of the race, conceding the championship lead to his junior teammate.McLaren’s Oscar Piastri, who had failed to start either of the first two races of the season, came home in second and could have even been on the top step if not for the untimely Safety Car.The exciting three-team battle for the top six places is sure to have brought entertainment, but the Japanese Grand Prix highlighted a systemic fault line within the 2026 regulations, one that could have worse consequences than what played out on track. On lap 22, Haas’ Ollie Bearman was involved in a 50G crash (force fifty times the earth’s gravitational pull) when his car slammed into the barriers at the Spoon Curve (Turn 13). The incident occurred when the young English driver had to veer out of the way of a slow-moving Franco Colapinto, causing him to dip a tyre into the grass and lose control of the car.Why the Alpine was moving slowly opened a Pandora’s box that F1 hoped to avoid with the new regulations. The crash was due to the high closing speed (the total speed at which two objects approach each other), which occurred due to Colapinto and Bearman’s opposing strategies. While the Argentinian was looking to harvest energy into the battery by going slower, Bearman had unlocked more speed by deploying battery power. While taking evasive action, the Haas car ran through a brake marker board before sliding into the barriers along the wall. Bearman was seen limping back to the service road after the high-impact crash. Oliver Bearman’s mangled car after the crash.
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images
Oliver Bearman’s mangled car after the crash.
| Photo Credit:
Getty Images
Williams driver and director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, Carlos Sainz, called it an accident waiting to happen, suggesting that F1 and the FIA had not heeded the drivers’ safety concerns. “We’ve been warning them about this happening. I’m not very happy with what we’ve had up until now.Hopefully, we come up with a better solution that doesn’t create these massive closing speeds and [ensures] a safer way of going racing,” the Spaniard told reporters after the race. “Here, we were lucky there was an escape road. Now imagine going to Baku or going to Singapore or going to Vegas and having this kind of closing speeds and crashes next to the walls,” he added.The crash and the subsequent complaints from the drivers forced the FIA to put out a statement regarding prospective changes to the energy management system. “A number of meetings are scheduled in April to assess the operation of the new regulations and to determine whether any refinements are required. Any potential adjustments require careful simulation and detailed analysis. At this stage, any speculation regarding the nature of potential changes would be premature,” the statement read.With five weeks to go before the next Grand Prix in Miami, due to the cancellation of the races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the FIA and F1 management will have to come up with a solution to tackle the issues of closing speeds, which are inherent in this generation of battery-powered racing. Safety should be priority number one, even if that entails taking a few steps back in the use of electrical energy.MotoGP Marco Bezzecchi celebrates with his United States Grand Prix trophy.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
Marco Bezzecchi celebrates with his United States Grand Prix trophy.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters
Marco Bezzecchi extended his winning streak to five races after victory at the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA). He led an Aprilia 1-2 with teammate Jorge Martin, who had won the sprint race on Saturday but started seventh on the grid, ahead of KTM’s Pedro Acosta.Despite only starting on the second row, Bezzecchi surged into second place before the first corner, then overtook leader Acosta after a slight argy-bargy, which resulted in his seat padding flying off the bike. When he crossed the start-finish straight at the end of lap one, he broke Jorge Lorenzo’s record for the most consecutive MotoGP laps led.Pole-sitter Fabio Di Giannantonio finished fourth as the lead Ducati ahead of defending champion Marc Marquez, who responded after serving a long-lap penalty to round out the top five.Published on Apr 08, 2026 #Formula #Antonelli #wins #Japanese #Bearman #crash #exposes #dangerous #differential #issue")