Besides the on-track challenges in 2024, Red Bull experienced an exodus of engineers and top leaders, including the legendary designer Adrian Newey and long-time sporting director Jonathan Wheatley. While Wheatley saw the season out with the Bulls, Newey stepped back from his duties as the CTO in May 2024.
On top of that, their Head of Strategy, Will Courtenay, has also made a switch to McLaren, whom he will be joining by mid-2026. These exits have prompted Red Bull to restructure their senior leadership structure by internally promoting promising talents. Max Verstappen‘s engineer, Gianpiero Lambiase, has also benefitted from this situation, as he will be getting promoted to the role of ‘Head of Racing’.
This doesn’t mean that Lambiase will step back from his race engineer duties for Verstappen. The Italian will stay as the voice in the four-time world champion’s ears besides handling wider responsibilities in his new role.
: Gianpiero Lambiase, Max Verstappen’s race engineer, will take on greater responsibility within Red Bull’s newly restructured team. This move signifies his expanded role as part of the team’s strategic changes for the 2025 season. #F1 pic.twitter.com/FtF1xY5HWO
— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) February 1, 2025
Lambiase has been Verstappen’s race engineer ever since the Dutchman debuted for Red Bull in 2016. The duo have developed an excellent bond on a personal level as well, which enriches their professional dynamic.
His new role will entail Lambiase taking charge of all trackside activities of the Milton Keynes-based team. This promotion for the Italian is a result of Wheatley’s exit who was the honcho of trackside operations for the Bulls for a long time.
However, as the former Red Bull sporting director had various other responsibilities, the team decided to split his responsibilities and promote multiple personnel to undertake specific tasks, which were part of Wheatley’s job description.
Besides internal promotions, Red Bull has ramped up its hiring
Amid the reports of Red Bull facing a lot of attrition of engineers and technicians to other teams, they have also reportedly ramped up its hiring, with some suggesting that they hired around 200 people from Mercedes. This personnel is for Red Bull’s indigenous Powertrains division, which will be building its 2026 power unit.
While Mercedes has rubbished these reports, the Austrian outfit will have certainly poached engineers to assist their engine program, as it will be the first time they are building an F1 power unit from scratch.
And given Mercedes has been the best engine in the sport for a while, it makes sense to onboard some of the engineers from Brixworth, where the Silver Arrows have his engine facility.
However, Red Bull’s main focus should be on stabilizing its technical leadership hierarchy with the likes of Newey and Wheatley leaving a massive vacuum. Figures like Lambiase, Steve Knowles, Richard Wolverson, and Phil Turner, who will be picking up various duties of Wheatley would be the key for Red Bull to handle this transition period smoothly.
