With the 2024 Drivers’ Championship secured, Red Bull has implemented a significant reorganization of its leadership roles ahead of the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Liam Lawson, who joined Milton Keynes as Sergio Perez’s replacement and Max Verstappen’s new teammate, will have a new race engineer.
Richard Wood, known as “Woody,” has been appointed to the role after serving as Sergio Perez’s performance engineer until the end of last season.
In 2024, Wood had already temporarily replaced Hugh Bird as Perez’s race engineer for several races. Now, for 2025, he has been permanently promoted and will work with Lawson.
As reported by Motorsport.com last September, Red Bull had to address the departure of sporting director Jonathan Wheatley, who will begin his new role at Sauber on April 1.
Rather than appointing a direct replacement, Milton Keynes has decided to distribute Wheatley’s responsibilities among multiple individuals. Gianpiero Lambiase, Max Verstappen’s race engineer, will take on additional duties. He will continue working with the four-time world champion while also assuming the role of head of racing. This promotion gives Gianpiero Lambiase greater authority in managing the entire team, overseeing race operations, and contributing to strategic decisions.
Regarding strategy, Will Courtenay will remain on the Red Bull pit wall. The strategy director is set to leave the team in mid-2026 to join McLaren, but Red Bull has opted to retain him in the short term.
Steve Knowles will take on some of Wheatley’s former responsibilities, becoming head of sporting. This means he will play a key role in communications with Race Control during Grand Prix weekends.
What will remain unchanged is the team working alongside Max Verstappen. While Lambiase has been promoted, he will continue as Verstappen’s race engineer. Michael Manning, one of Max’s key crew members responsible for start preparation, will stay in his role until the end of the season, with no team changes. In short, a winning team stays the same.
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