Gianpiero Lambiase jumps ship at Red Bull, set to join McLaren in 2028

Max Verstappen and Gianpiero Lambiase celebrate Las Vegas Grand Prix win on the podium. On Thursday, it was confirmed by McLaren that Max Verstappen’s race engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, is leaving Red Bull to join McLaren in 2028. Lambiase, mainly known as “GP,” adds to the long list of being one of the many key contributors who have left the Milton Keynes-based team within the last two years.

Lambiase will join the Papaya team as its Chief Racing Officer, reporting directly to Team Principal Andrea Stella. He’ll be getting a promotion and a nice pay raise with the move. GP won’t be communicating with any drivers during the race, as he said that he wouldn’t be able to replicate what he has with Verstappen to any other driver, so once he is done working with Max, his hands-on work will be finished.

GP has spent ten years with Verstappen so far, and the two have been among the most dominant duos in Formula One history. Four World Championships, 71 Grand Prix wins, 127 podium finishes, 48 pole positions, and GP coached Verstappen to his first win in Barcelona in May of 2016. All of that wouldn’t have been possible without their trust and communication with one another.

The race engineer can make or break a driver; Bono and Lewis Hamilton are another prime example of what a great race engineer and driver duo looks like. This exit leads to more questions on Max Verstappen’s future with Red Bull. Verstappen has said that he needs to think about his career and whether or not he wants to continue driving in Formula One.