Mekies doubles down: 'Lambiase will become McLaren's team principal'

Mekies and Stella were once again asked about 'GP' Lambiase's future, with the Briton set to join McLaren no later than 2028 as the team’s Chief Racing Officer. The Red Bull Racing team principal explained that, as far as he understands, Lambiase would eventually take on the same role the Frenchman currently holds in Milton Keynes.

The Red Bull CEO and team principal said: "Look, it's certainly my understanding that GP is going to McLaren to become a team principal. That's what I told you at the time. Obviously, we had a number of conversations before he was going to make the decisions. Now, don't ask me if it's going to happen. The timing of it is none of my business. I can just tell you the content of our conversations."

In attendance at the press conference was Stella as well. The Italian responded: "What I said before is that McLaren, for us, is important to employ the best talents in Formula 1, because Zak [Brown] and I want to build the strongest team, not only in the present. We have some good references as to strong teams in the past, I've been part of the Ferrari team in the early 2000s, and I know what level of seniority, expertise, leadership you need to be successful in the present and in the future.

The Italian also highlighted being commented to his team. "When it comes to myself, I’m definitely fully committed to McLaren. One of the things that makes me more proud of my experience as a Team Principal is that we managed to fill the cabinet at MTC with trophies, and this meant that we needed to create another area of the cabinet, a new one. And for me the mission is very clear: we need to fill that new area of the cabinet for the years to come at McLaren. And GP? It’s very simple. At McLaren, we want to employ the best people in Formula 1, the best expertise, the best leaders. And the fact that GP decided to join McLaren, for me, just speaks to the credibility of our team. So, silly season, what’s important for us is stability and that the best talents in Formula 1 want to join McLaren."