The 45-year-old British-Italian, Gianpiero Lambiase, has long enjoyed a highly successful partnership at Red Bull with Max Verstappen, being both his race engineer and also more recently the team’s head of racing. However, it has just been revealed that Lambiase is set to move to McLaren with effect from the start of the 2028 season following the expiry of his Red Bull contract at the end of next year, but it could happen sooner if both outfits agree. His job title at McLaren is yet to be confirmed, but essentially he will support the existing Italian team principal, Andrea Stella, in a senior trackside role.

Formula 1 has long been renowned for the regular movement between teams of both senior personnel and those at lower levels, but Lambiase’s impending departure follows on from Red Bull’s loss of other senior figures, including Adrian Newey, Rob Marshall, Jonathan Wheatley, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko. Of course, it has to be added that both Horner and Marko were pushed rather than jumped and were forced to leave by the global drinks company’s senior management.

This interesting development about the likeable Lambiase means he will be seriously missed at Red Bull by Verstappen and the rest of the team, at a time when the Dutch racer is seriously contemplating his own future in Formula 1 due to being significantly disillusioned by the questionable nature of some aspects of the all-new technical regulations introduced with effect from this season.

The four-time world champion is very much regarded as the best of the current generation of drivers in the world’s leading motorsport category and one of the greatest ever, and his highly lucrative current contract with Red Bull runs until the end of 2028. However, as with most leading drivers, various break clauses exist which would allow him to leave his current team early if he so desired and potentially as soon as this summer, even if that may be an unlikely scenario. Verstappen has met privately with the F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali, as the Italian is very keen not to lose him from the grid and understands his concerns, which are also shared by most other drivers.

Much will depend on what changes may be agreed upon during the current break between the rounds in Japan and Miami to appease the drivers and again make Formula 1 the ultimate test of man and machine, while also making it safer for all concerned and more enjoyable for fans to watch, without an excessive level of hybrid-related technology which makes overtaking too easy and minimises the true value of carefully honed overtaking skills.