No friction
“Without him I don’t race”. Max Verstappen, on the wave of enthusiasm from his first title won in 2021 at the wheel of the Red Bull, had through this hyperbole underlined how important race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase was to him. The chemistry between the two was immediate from the moment the Dutchman arrived at Red Bull, to the point that Helmut Marko defined them as “an old married couple“.
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Yesterday, however, it was made official that Lambiase will move to McLaren starting from 2028, taking on the position of Chief Racing Officer within the Woking team’s organizational chart.
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This shake-up in the technical market has found ample space in newsstands across Europe, and the British tabloid Daily Mail highlighted that, contrary to what might have been expected, Max Verstappen supported Lambiase in accepting the “astronomical“ offer from McLaren: “A source who asked to remain anonymous told me that Lambiase was offered a fortune – writes Jonathan McEvoy – and the fact that he decided to accept is understandable. There was no objection from Max Verstappen, on the contrary, he supported Lambiase in his decision”.
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