F1 McLaren vs Red Bull: Zak Brown responds to Laurent Mekies over Lambiase and team principal rumours. Zak Brown responded with irony to Red Bull comments about Gianpiero Lambiase’s future role.

The American McLaren boss, Zak Brown, has responded with irony to comments made on Sky Sports F1 by Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies regarding a potential future role for Gianpiero Lambiase at McLaren.

The rivalry heats up again

The clear step forward in performance shown in Miami by both Red Bull and McLaren appears to have reignited not only on-track competition but also the verbal sparring between the two reference teams of recent seasons, who have also been central figures in several recent market battles.

The spark was lit by Red Bull team principal Laurent Mekies, who, speaking about the potential future move of Gianpiero Lambiase—currently Red Bull race engineer—to McLaren, stated: “Lambiase had an extraordinary opportunity. There (at McLaren) he will become team principal.”

These comments were particularly significant from a media standpoint, as McLaren has consistently defined Lambiase’s role as Chief Racing Officer, while repeatedly clarifying that the Italian-British engineer would act as a right-hand man to Andrea Stella, who would retain his position as team principal.

Brown backs Stella

Also via Sky Sports F1, Zak Brown responded to Mekies, mainly with a tone of irony: “Apparently, he knows something I don’t!” the Californian manager joked, before returning to a more serious tone to confirm that McLaren’s team principal will remain Andrea Stella for the long term.

“I’ve got a fantastic person, I’ve got the best in the pit lane, Andrea Stella, so I couldn’t be happier with Andrea,” Brown clarified, leaving no room for doubt.

“My job as CEO is to ensure we have the best talent, to think long term, and to maximise strength both on the pit wall and in the factory. Andrea has done a fantastic job, as has our technical team. Lambiase is a great talent, and when the opportunity came to strengthen our race team, that is exactly what I did and what we will continue to do, whether it is an engineer, a driver or a strategist, whatever the case may be.”

With that, the matter is closed—at least until the next exchange between the teams.

In summary, Zak Brown’s firm rebuttal of Laurent Mekies’ comments underscores McLaren’s stability under Andrea Stella’s leadership, framing Giampiero Lambiase’s arrival as a strategic reinforcement of their racing operations rather than a change in top management.