Verstappen Accepts Lambiase's 2028 Red Bull Exit, Citing Changing Times

Max Verstappen has acknowledged the inevitable end of his historic partnership with race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase, who will leave Red Bull for McLaren in 2028. The Dutch driver, who once vowed to stop racing if Lambiase left, now pragmatically accepts the change, wishing his long-time collaborator well while Red Bull looks to the future with new personnel.

Why it matters:

The Verstappen-Lambiase pairing is one of the most successful driver-engineer duos in F1 history, central to all four of Verstappen's world championships. Lambiase's planned departure marks the end of an era for Red Bull and removes a key pillar of stability for Verstappen, fueling speculation about the driver's own long-term future as his contract expires just one year later in 2029.

The details:

• Red Bull officially confirmed Lambiase will depart when his contract concludes in 2028, ending a partnership that began at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix—where Verstappen took his maiden F1 win.
• Verstappen revealed he was informed of the move and gave it his blessing, stating he would have been "an idiot" to try and block the career-advancing opportunity for Lambiase.
• The driver directly addressed his famous 2021 comment about quitting if Lambiase left, admitting, "times change" and that he will simply have to work with someone else if he wants to continue racing.
• He firmly shut down any suggestion that he might follow Lambiase to McLaren, stating the engineer's move "has nothing to do with" his own future decisions.

What's next:

The focus now shifts to Red Bull's succession planning. The team is already evaluating and working with other engineers to find a new race engineer capable of building a similarly effective partnership with its star driver.

• Verstappen's commitment to Red Bull for 2025-2028 appears unchanged, but his general dissatisfaction with the direction of modern F1, combined with this significant personnel change, will keep questions about a potential early exit alive until he signs a new contract.
• For Lambiase, the move to McLaren in 2028 represents a major new challenge, where he will be tasked with helping the historic team sustain or improve its current competitive resurgence.