McLaren, Lambiase in and Stella out
This morning the Dutch newspaper De Limburger revealed a real scoop regarding the F1 technical market: Gianpiero Lambiase has reportedly accepted McLaren’s courtship to join the team from 2028, after the expiration of his current contract with Red Bull. The astronomical financial offer was reportedly the key to convincing Max Verstappen’s current race engineer and Red Bull’s Head of Racing.
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De Telegraaf with the always well-informed Erik Van Haren then clarified that Lambiase will arrive at McLaren with the prospect of becoming its future team principal. The Dutch newspaper reads: “With the arrival of Lambiase for 2028, McLaren is already preparing for a possible departure of Andrea Stella. The current team principal enjoys a good reputation at Woking, but is being linked with a return to Ferrari.”
In August 2024, McLaren announced a multi-year contract renewal with Stella, team principal since 2022.
Current Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur signed an extension last year that is believed to be valid at least until the end of the 2027 season.
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The career of the team principal from Orvieto
Andrea Stella, an aerospace engineer graduated from Sapienza, began his career in Formula 1 in 2000 with Ferrari, working as a race engineer for drivers such as Schumacher, Räikkönen, and Alonso. In 2015 he moved to McLaren, rapidly climbing the internal hierarchy until his appointment as Team Principal in December 2022, replacing Andreas Seidl. Under his technical and strategic direction, the Woking team experienced a sporting rebirth, returning to the top of the world championship. As Team Principal, Stella led McLaren to victory in the 2024 World Constructors’ Championship, bringing the title back to the team after a 26-year wait (the last one dated back to 1998). The success was repeated in 2025, the year in which the team again won the Constructors’ title and also triumphed in the World Drivers’ Championship with Lando Norris. To date, his management has collected over 20 Grand Prix victories.
