Red Bull hit as Gianpiero Lambiase cannot refuse McLaren’s life-changing offer. Red Bull faces a major shake-up.

Red Bull shaken: McLaren convinces Lambiase with a massive offer

Earthquake at Milton Keynes

Aside from Max Verstappen, the last key figure at Red Bull who contributed to the team’s tremendous success in F1 from 2021 to 2024—including their dominant 2023 season—has now departed. According to Dutch media outlets De Telegraaf and De Limburger, Gianpiero Lambiase has accepted what has been described as an astronomical offer from McLaren and will join the Woking-based team starting in 2028.

Lambiase still has one year left on his Red Bull contract until 2027. In McLaren’s plans, he is set to succeed Andrea Stella as team principal once the Italian manager concludes his tenure leading the papaya team.

The impact on Verstappen

Following Rob Marshall and Will Courtenay, Lambiase will be the latest figure to leave Milton Keynes for Woking. This personnel change casts a shadow over Max Verstappen’s future at Red Bull, as it is no secret that the Dutch driver shares a close bond with his race engineer. Lambiase could not turn down what has been termed the “offer of a lifetime,” representing a likely career advancement—heavily compensated—at the very team that dethroned Red Bull as the dominant force in the ground-effect era.

The acquisition of Gianpiero Lambiase by McLaren therefore represents a strategic masterstroke that further weakens a struggling Red Bull project. As the 2026 season continues to highlight the technical gap between the two teams, poachings of this magnitude suggest a permanent shift in the F1 hierarchy. For fans of Max Verstappen, the question is no longer just about the car’s performance, but whether the departure of his closest technical partner will finally trigger a move away from the team he once led to the top of the world. With Gianpiero Lambiase headed to Woking, McLaren’s path toward long-term stability looks more certain than ever.