Gianpiero Lambiase’s move to McLaren is a topic of conversation – Günther Steiner expects the Italian to leave Red Bull quickly
McLaren has secured a prominent name from the Red Bull environment with the signing of Gianpiero Lambiase. Max Verstappen’s long-time race engineer will join the traditional team from Woking as Chief Racing Officer by 2028 at the latest, reporting directly to Team Principal Andrea Stella.
Lambiase has been a central figure in the successful team around Verstappen and Red Bull for years. His move is therefore seen as a significant strategic step for McLaren, as the team continues to expand its sporting management structure.
Former Haas team boss Günther Steiner sees the change as a clear signal for McLaren’s long-term planning. In the podcast Drive to Wynn, he also commented on Lambiase’s possible transition phase at Red Bull. “I think he will leave Red Bull pretty soon, and maybe he can even start at McLaren earlier, but they won’t stall him, and that’s obviously a motivating factor as well,” Steiner said.
Gardening leave for Lambiase
At the same time, he referred to Lambiase’s difficult situation, with a confirmed transfer on the horizon. “When you know you’re going somewhere else, it’s always difficult. Of course you want to do a good job, but is your heart in it one hundred percent? Maybe only 99 percent. Sometimes that’s not enough in Formula 1, especially in his current position.”
Steiner assumes that Red Bull will solve the transition pragmatically and either release Lambiase early or send him on garden leave.
McLaren builds strong technical team
In addition to Lambiase, McLaren has already signed other high-caliber reinforcements from the competition. Among others, Will Courtenay, previously Head of Race Strategy at Red Bull, has also moved to Woking as Sports Director. Steiner particularly praised the long-term strategy of the McLaren management under Zak Brown. “McLaren is thinking long-term, and that is very smart because Will Courtenay from Red Bull is also there, a very good man, and they have a very strong team of individuals.”
He emphasized that McLaren specifically hires experienced and ambitious professionals. “They bring in experienced people, but they are still young enough to have the drive to see it through. These are not people who are about to retire – no, they still want to race and win, so they are very, very smart.”
Success phase attracts top talent
Steiner believes that McLaren’s sporting development in recent years also plays a decisive role in the personnel decisions. “McLaren has won in the last two years, and when you are successful, you want to work for the winning team. That’s how you attract great talent.“
He also emphasized the difference to less successful teams: ”If you see that your own team is no longer the dominant one, where do you want to go? To the best team, if the opportunity arises. You didn’t go to a small team, you went to the team that was the best in the last two years.”
