Max Verstappen’s Race Engineer Gianpiero Lambiase Turns Down Offer to Join Lewis Hamilton, Claims Report

With Peter Bonnington set to stay at Mercedes, Ferrari may need a top race engineer for Lewis Hamilton. While there have been reports about Carlos Sainz’s current engineer, Riccardo Adami taking that role, the Italian outfit has reportedly tried to hire Gianpiero Lambiase — Max Verstappen’s long-term race engineer.

According to reports from the Italian publication Corriere dello Sport, Lambiase has turned down Ferrari’s offer to become Hamilton’s engineer. RacingNews365 also reported that the Italian has extended his contract with Red Bull and has no intention to leave Verstappen — a sentiment mutually shared by the Dutchman. The Milton Keynes outfit has also reportedly improved the terms of Lambiase’s contract to retain him.

As for Hamilton and Bonnington’s association, there was a lot of speculation about Ferrari trying to convince the British engineer to follow the seven-time champion to Maranello. However, some reports suggested that Mercedes had non-poaching clauses in Bonnington’s contract — which also has been extended by the team lately.

Lambiase has been in contention for partially taking over Jonathan Wheatley’s role as sporting director — who will depart the team at the end of 2024. Wheatley has been another big name to leave Red Bull, after Adrian Newey confirmed his exit from the Austrian team earlier in May 2024.

While there has been no confirmation about Lambiase taking over some of Wheatley’s responsibilities, Red Bull have indicated that the Italian will become a more integral part of the team’s structure with additional responsibilities.

Like Lambiase, the Milton Keynes outfit is also planning to promote several internal candidates to fill in the vacuum left by Wheatley, Newey, and several engineers like Rob Marshall — who has already joined McLaren this season.