Red Bull makes decision on Lambiase's successor as Verstappen's race engineer

In principle, Gianpiero Lambiase will leave Red Bull Racing at the end of the season to join McLaren after a mandatory gardening leave. Verstappen will not follow his confidant to the reigning Constructors’ World Champion. The Dutchman remains committed to Red Bull Racing for the next four seasons as well.

Red Bull has appointed Tom Hart as Lambiase’s successor. The engineer had originally planned to move from the Austrian team to Williams, where he was set to become Alexander Albon’s race engineer. Following, among other things, a request from team principal Laurent Mekies, Hart ultimately decided to stay with Red Bull and become Verstappen’s race engineer.

Last season, Hart filled in several times when Lambiase was unavailable due to personal circumstances. The Briton therefore has some experience as the voice in Verstappen’s ear. In the coming period, he will be further prepared for his new role.

Many assumed this would involve running a full weekend as Verstappen’s race engineer, but GPblog understands that this is not the plan at the moment. The team now opts to deploy Hart during a few sessions, after which Lambiase will handle the remaining sessions of that weekend guiding Max Verstappen.

It is not yet known when Tom Hart will first appear in his future role. Reportedly, no final decision has been made within Red Bull on this matter yet.