Verstappen's race engineer Lambiase to leave Red Bull for McLaren in 2028

LONDON, April 9 : Max Verstappen's long-time Formula One race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase will leave Red Bull at the end of his contract in 2028 and join McLaren as chief racing officer, the teams said in separate statements on Thursday.

The 45-year-old will have a supporting role to team principal Andrea Stella at McLaren, the current champions.

"Until his planned departure, 'GP' continues in his roles as Head of Racing and as race engineer to Max Verstappen," Red Bull said.

"The team and he are fully committed to add more success to our strong track record together." 

McLaren said in a separate statement that Lambiase would report to Stella and take on some of the Italian's race team responsibilities.

"The team look forward to welcoming GianPiero Lambiase when his existing contract ends, no later than 2028," they said.

VERSTAPPEN ALSO CONTRACTED TO 2028

The engineer has worked with Verstappen since 2016 and played a key role in helping the Dutch driver to his four world championships.

Verstappen's own contract runs to the end of 2028, although there are release clauses.

Lambiase had also been linked with Silverstone-based Aston Martin, whose team principal is former Red Bull star designer Adrian Newey.

While they have 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.

Stella, who worked with Michael Schumacher in a golden era at Ferrari in the early 2000s, has a multi-year contract with McLaren and senior sources at the team told Reuters he had no intention of returning to Maranello despite some media speculation about his future.

The close but forthright relationship between Verstappen